


I'd Find You Again

by anyasromanov



Category: Anastasia (1997), Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally, Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally (Broadway) RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Anastasia Fusion, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, Childhood Love, Eventual Smut, F/M, Family, Fluff, Home, I Love You, Love, Marriage, Paris (City), Russia, Soulmates, maybe he shows up in paris and she doesn't recognise him, maybe hes dead, maybe she thinks he is dead, maybe they sleep together, soft dimya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-04
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-09-18 10:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16993563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyasromanov/pseuds/anyasromanov
Summary: Anastasia and Dmitry, both two young children, met in Catherine Park in the winter of 1909. Anastasia makes them instant friends and takes him back to the palace, refusing to leave him out in the snow. The two of them become fast friends when Anastasia introduces him to Royal life which he never feels as if he belongs. The two get separated when she moves to Paris in the hope they will one day see each other again.





	1. Chapter 1

Anastasia woke up feeling cold. The door had been knocked on, so she knew it was time to get up, but the cold didn't make her want to move. She pulled her blanket up close to keep her warm, snuggling into a pillow on the bed that was far too big for an eight-year-old.

"Nastya! Nastya!" An excited five-year-old ran into Anastasia's room, "Nastya! Wake up Nastya!" He jumped onto her bed and started bouncing around.

Anastasia threw her pillow at the young boy, softly, not wanting to hurt the small haemophiliac. She didn't quite understand what haemophilia was, but she knew if Alyosha was bleeding she had to get mama or papa immediately.

"Lyosha, go away," she mumbled, her voice rough and hoarse from just having woke up.

"But Nastya it is snowing!"

Within milliseconds, Anastasia sprang out of bed throwing her covers away from her and ran to her closet. She closed the door behind her so she could quickly get changed into some winter clothes. Once she had accomplished this she ran out of her closet, grabbed Alexei's hand and pulled him into the hallway.

"Masha, Olya, Tatya!" Anastasia cried, pulling Alexei down the hallway, she let go of his hand and the two of them started knocking on their sisters' doors. Being the youngest two they were always the most excited.

"Nastya, what's going on?" Their father walked from downstairs to see why his children were screaming.

"Oh, papa!" She ran over to him, he picked her up, embracing her in a hug, "Can we go play in the snow? Please, Papa, Olya, Tatya and Masha will come with us, please!" Nicholas put his daughter down.

Their father gave them a stern look, "Only if your older sisters are with you and as soon as they want to come home you must as well, and Alexei, you have to be on your best behaviour, we don't want you getting hurt anymore," the two young children looked up at their father.

"Yes papa," they both replied, eyes wide, smiles bright. They went back to running up and down the corridor knocking on their sisters' doors. 

Anastasia ran into Maria's room and Alexei ran into Tatiana's both jumping on their beds, hurrying their sisters out of bed. Once they had both achieved the task of waking and forcing the two sisters to get dressed the exited the rooms and decided they would wake Olga together.

They entered their eldest sister's room, "Olya," Anastasia said quietly, she had calmed down slightly and knew not to annoy Olga or they wouldn't be allowed to play in the snow.

"Morning Nastya," you could hear the tiredness in her voice.

"Good morning Olya," Alexei said confidently.

"Good morning little Tsarevich," Alexei giggled at his eldest sisters pet name for him, Mama always called him that and his sister was starting to join in. "Can I help the two of you?"

"We want to go play out in the snow," Alexei started.

"And papa says that you Masaha and Tatya all have to come with us," Anastasia finished.

"Okay, the two of you go wait in the hall with Masha and Tatya and I will be out in a second and then we can go play in the snow."  
\-----

The five of them had wandered towards Catherine park, this was there first and only Christmas they would spend at the Catherine Palace. Alexei had had a bleeding incident so it was too risky for them to travel and their mother didn't want to risk anything. They weren't usually allowed to the park without their servants but due to the heavy snow, they weren't expecting anyone else to be there, so they were allowed to go on their own.

Once they arrived, the smiles on them shone bright and they started to run around in the snow, the three younger siblings playing a game of tag, trying to get their older siblings to join in but always failing. 

"Okay, how about we have a snowball fight?" Tatiana suggested, "You three against me and Olya?" The eyes of the three younger siblings grew bright and Anastasia dropped to the floor instantly making snowballs to throw at her older siblings.

Anastasia was having a lovely time playing with her siblings when she noticed another figure sitting in the snow. She couldn't quite make out whether this figure was a boy or a girl but she was going to find out. Making sure her siblings weren't watching her, she ran off to discover who this figure was. Mama had taught them never to speak to strangers, but Anastasia was a curious girl, and this figure was all alone in the cold, she wanted to be friendly.

As she got closer she was able to tell that the figure was one that belonged to a young boy, he had quite a petite shape, he was possibly the same age as her, maybe slightly older. 

"Hi," Anastasia greeted him, making him jump, he turned around and she gasped, "I, I know you-"

"Oh, er," the boy stood quickly and then went into a bow, "Your Highness," he stayed in his bow.

"Get up," she commanded, in a playful tone. He did as she said, after all, she was a Grand Duchess, and he didn't know if he would get in trouble or not. "You don't have to do that," the boy stayed silent, "you can talk to me you know? It's not like I'm untouchable."

"Sorry, your highness," he stuttered.

"You don't have to call me that either, my name isn't your highness, its Anastasia, but I'm guessing you knew that. You called my name out in the parade, oh how mama told me off so badly for smiling at you," he looked at her in awe, he could see her beauty even at the age of ten. "So, what is your name?"

"Dmitry."

"Well, Dmitry, why aren't you much of a talker?"

"I've had no one to talk to."

"Well, you can talk to me! I'm talking to you now aren't I?" He smiled, a nervous feeling grew inside of him. "Why are you out here in the cold alone, mama and papa would never let me out alone, whether it was cold or not. Are your mama and papa around?"

"No," there was a silence, "my parents are, erm, well," he looked up slightly, looking at her, seeing if she could figure out what he was trying to imply, but it was clear she couldn't, "my parents are dead."

"Oh, Dmitry I'm sorry, that must be awful for you. Who looks after you then? Where do you live?"

"No one and nowhere."

"You can't live nowhere, everyone has a home."

"Not me, I live on the streets. Just a meer street rat."

"You must come back to the palace with me! I cannot leave you out here alone!" She heard her name being called in the distance.

"I can't-"

"You can and you will, I am the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolevna Romanov, you have to do as I say," she stuck her tongue out of him and grabbed his hand. "Come on, that's Olya shouting me!"

"But she's shouting Nastya."

"That's my nickname silly, and seeing as we're friends now you can call me Nastya too!"

"Can I call you Anya instead?" She smiled, he knew what he wanted, but why he didn't want to call her Nastya she didn't know.

"I've not heard that one before, yes. Yes, you may, but, you have to come to the palace with me!" Dmitry nodded in defeat letting Anastasia pull him towards a few distant figures.

"Nastya there you are!" Maria ran over and hugged her tight, "Olga is going to kill you! Don't run off like-" Maria looked to the boy standing next to her sister, "Nastya who is this?"

"This is Dmitry, I found him alone in the cold and I'm not leaving him outside, mama can protest all she wants but if he isn't allowed to stay then I shall sleep outside as well!"

"You are so stubborn Nastya!" Tatiana saw the two girls and ran over to them, Olga following.

"We are going home Anastasia, now." Olga's voice was cold and stern.

"Please don't tell mama or papa! They won't let us play again!" Anastasia whined.

"Fine, I won't, but you have to promise not to run off again."

"I promise Olya."

"Who is this?"

Anastasia grabbed Dmitry's hand, "This is Dmitry, he is my new friend."

"Mama is not going to be happy, now come on, we're going back to the palace."

The walk to the palace didn't seem too far for Dmitry, he was used to walking around from place to place, so this was normal for him. The whole entire walk Anastasia spoke to him, telling him what the palace was like and how he would love it, but Dmitry was unsure, all he knew was the life of a commoner.

As soon as they got to the palace Dmitry knew he didn't belong, it was all too fancy for him.

"Anya," he whispered, pulling her back slightly, "thank you but I really can't, I don't belong here-"

"Dmitry, I don't care, you're coming in!"

"No!" He tried to loosen her grasp on him. There was hurt in her face and he could see it. "You are all princes and princesses, I don't belong in that world."

"Well, I will make you belong," she looked behind her to see her sisters had gone into the palace, "Please, just until it gets a bit warmer." He decided to give in, as stubborn as he was, he did like the idea of being inside, being in the warm.

As soon as Dmitry followed Anastasia into the palace his eyes opened wide, the palace looked exquisite. This was only the grand entrance. Gold, it was everywhere, and so many stairs, so many lights, so many diamonds. Dmitry ignored the guard who was standing at the door giving him a funny look. 

He saw the Tsar coming towards him.

"Papa!" Anastasia ran over to him, the man picked his daughter up and spun her around before placing her on the ground again.

"Olga said you brought someone home with you," he sounded angry.

"Yes papa," she turned and walked over to Dmitry, "This is Dmitry," he bowed instantly.

"Your imperial highness."

"He has respect at least. You may stand boy," The Tsar's voice was stern. Dmitry followed instructions and Anastasia giggled slightly.

"Nastya," She knew what was coming, he always used her nickname when he was letting her down.

"If you say no I am sleeping in the garden!" She began to protest, "You can't leave him outside in the cold papa, he will freeze. Please, papa, please!"

Nicholas rolled his eyes at the young child, "You are a stubborn one, my dear little duchess," there was a brief moment of pause, "I really should not do this, and your mama will not be happy, neither will your nana, but yes, he can stay."

"Oh thank you, papa, thank you, thank you, thank you!" She ran to hug him.

"Take him to Viktor, Anastasia, tell him I said to clean the boy and put him in some fine clothes, he can have the bedroom between yours and Alexei's."

Anastasia did exactly as her father said, grabbing Dmitry's hand and running him through the palace to find Viktor, one of their many servants. Once Anastasia had handed him over, she told him to come and knock on her door when he was ready, she wanted to talk to him more.

Anastasia was sat reading some of Grimm's fairy tales on her bed to her little brother when there was eventually a knock on the door.

"Come in," she said proudly, then going back to reading. "Come, sit," she said patting a space next to her on the bed, "I've almost finished reading to Alexei."

"Nastya! Hurry and finish the story!"

Dmitry laughed slightly and the impatience of the young boy as walked over and sat to where Anastasia had told him to.

"'Little duck, little duck, dost thou see, Hansel and Gretel are waiting for thee? There's never a plank, or bridge in sight, Take us across on thy back so white.'" He admired her voice, her perfect Russian, he hadn't known her long but he knew he loved her voice. She continued the story, he listened, even though the story wasn't for him. "Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness. My tale is done, there runs a mouse; whosoever catches it, may make himself a big fur cap out of it." Anastasia closed the book with a slap and went to go place it on her bookshelf.

"Another one Nastya! Please!" Alexei said jumping off the bed.

"Alyosha! No!" Alexei fell to the floor and Anastasia ran to open the door, fortunately, her older sisters were walking past the door, "Olya!" she cried in a panic, she was hyperventilating and tears were already streaming down her face, "Alexei!" Her sister gave a stern look, "he jumped off my bed and," before she could finish Olga ran in to inspect the small child, picking him up, making sure he hadn't cut himself at all.

"He looks okay Nastya, you don't need to worry, but well done for finding someone," she turned to face Alexei, "Alyosha, you know you have to be careful."

"Sorry Olya," he looked at his feet.

"It's okay just be more careful, you scare us, I'll see you at dinner," and with that, she left the room.

"So, that other story Nastya?" Alexei turned to her, using his charming little smile, and five-year-old innocence.

"Alyosha, I love you," she started acting like one of her big sisters now, placing her hand on his shoulder, "But I want to play with Dmitry," Dmitry, who was still sat on the bed, confused about the events that just occurred, snapped his head at the mention of his name, "don't looks so surprised Dmitry," she giggled, "Alyosha, go play with Masha or Olya or Tatya, or go do some Tsarevich things with papa, you know he loves when you do that!" Alexei smiled a little more and then ran out of the room, "be careful Alyosha!" Anastasia yelled at him as he ran away.

Dmitry was still staring at her, surprised that she wanted to play with him, then she walked over and sat next to him, looking so serene, just as she did in the parade the other week.

"So, what do you want to do?"

"I, er, I don't know, I've never had any friends my age. Not for a long time anyway."

"Oh, well, I told you about myself on the way here, so why don't you tell me about you?"

"Erm, well, what do you want to know?" He was nervous. He didn't know what exactly to tell her, his memories of his family all revolved around death, and then living on the streets.

"Well, how old are you? You haven't told me that yet!" She seemed to giggle after everything she said and Dmitry found it cute.

"I'm 10."

"You're the same age as Masha! That's Maria, by the way, we never call each other by our full names, only our nicknames, apart from mama and papa, they always use our full names. And nana as well, when she is here from France, she should be coming soon for the last winter ball, oh I'm so excited you must come! Sorry, I'm doing all the talking again. Do you have a nickname?"

"Well, my father used to-" he paused, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell her, but when she looked at him eyes wide, clearly interested he decided to continue, "My father used to call me Dima."

"Dima?" She giggled and he started to turn red, "well I think it's cute, and if you get to call me Anya, can I call you Dima?" He smiled and nodded.

"Of course you can princess," she shoved him slightly.

"It's Anya, not princess."

"Whatever you say, princess," his voice was playful and full of tease and after he spoke he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Dima it's not funny!" She crossed her arms.

"Okay, sorry Anya."

"Thank you, now, tell me about yourself, where did you grow up?"

So that's what he did. He sat and told her about his father and the life they had until he was taken to a labour camp a couple years ago, Anastasia sat and apologised for about five minutes before she let him continue. He told her about St Petersburg and the city, how he loved it with all his heart, the beautiful city, with its stunning views, the sky looking like a new piece of artwork every night.

"There was one place, my father would take me, he'd put me on his soldiers and would bet me I could see all the way to Finland," he sat and looked at her, "I'll have to show you one day."

"I've been to St Petersburg."

"In a parade, in a carriage. You haven't seen the city as I have," he looked at her again, "I will show you it all one day, the alleyways and the views from the top of workhouses," he laughed, forgetting completely that she was a princess.

"I would love that," she smiled brightly, "what about your mama? You haven't said anything about her."

"She died," there was a pause, Anastasia felt bad, "I never knew her." There was an awkward pause between the two.

"Do you know how to play chess?" Anastasia spoke after a minute changing the subject completely. He shook his head, "I could teach you?"

"Could you read again?"

"Really? You want me to read to you? Can't you read a book yourself?" He didn't answer and she realised, "You can't read," her voice full of surprise, "of course I can read to you, I can try to teach you! Just don't tell Alyosha! He'll be mad because I told him I wouldn't read him another story." She walked over to her bookshelf, "English, Russian or French?"

"Russian," he replied instantly, amazed at how the girl could read in three languages when he couldn't even read in his native language.

"Okay, erm, Baba Yaga! It used to be my favourite, but I read bigger stories now, okay, it might be hard at first, but you'll get it with lots of practice."

Anastasia called Dmitry over to sit on the floor with her, "Okay so this," she pointed at the words that read Баба Яга, "it says Baba Yaga, I can't promise I will be a good teacher but I will try."

Anastasia and Dmitry sat for the next few hours in the young girl's room. She was tried her best to teach him but they both were getting frustrated so in the end, she decided she would just read to him, pointing to the words as she read so he knew what each one said.

A knock on the door interrupted them. Whatever Anastasia was doing she was always interrupted by a knock on the door, she let out a deep breath.

"Come in," she said proudly, plastering on a fake smile.

The door opened in walked one of the servants, Anastasia felt bad for not knowing all their names, there were just so many, "Dinner is ready, your highness," Dmitry noticed as the woman bowed as she entered the room.

"Okay, you may stand, thank you, we will be down in a second."

"We?" Dmitry questioned.

"You live here now Dima, obviously you're going to eat with us silly," she giggled, "wait here while I change, and close your eyes!" 

Anastasia changed into one of her light pink dresses for dinner and when she had changed she told Dmitry to open his eyes. Grabbing his hand again she pulled him through the palace to the Grand Hall where they would be eating. Dmitry was in amazement.

He saw the Tsar and Tsarina walking over to him and he bowed instantly, he had never been one to bow before, he thought it was silly business, but since seeing Anastasia in the parade and then coming to the palace, he couldn't seem to stop.

"Stand," the Tsarina said in her stern voice.

"Mama be nice! Come on Dima, you can sit next to me," she pulled his hand again, making him follow her.

"Anastasia," her mother turned to call her, but being the mischevious little girl she was she ignored her mother and sat at her place at the table.

Dmitry was amazed throughout the entire meal, he had never seen so much food in his life. Although he was eager, he knew to wait. Yet, even after the Tsar had said grace he still sat there looking at the food.

"Dmitry," he realised the Tsar was speaking to him and looked over instantly, "You can help yourself."

"Yes, thank you."

"Is there something wrong?"

"I've just never seen this much food before, I don't know where to start."

"Well," Anastasia interrupted, everyone rolled their eyes, she was keen with her new friend, which worried her mother, "As it's Sunday you can have a choice of meat, so you can have beef, or chicken, or goose, or turkey, I think beef is the best, and then once you have your meat you can choose some vegetables, and then potato and-"

"And then you cover the entire thing in gravy!" Alexei joined while covering his meal in gravy.

Alexandra laughed at her son, that was the first time Dmitry had seen her smile since he had arrived. "Okay maybe that's enough Alexei, everyone else will want some as well."

They finished their meal and were dismissed from the table. Nicholas had told Anastasia to tell Dmitry how bedtime worked and once she had explained they parted ways. 

He sat in his new room, amazed that he had an actual bed, with pillows and a blanket. Never had he felt this warm, not even when he was living with his father. He looked up at the ceiling, getting lost in his thoughts. He was living in a palace, with the Royals. Surely this was all just a dream?

\---

Dmitry woke up the next morning to a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said as he sat up in his bed. It took him a moment to realise his surroundings and when Anastasia walked into his room he couldn't help but smile. She was in her nightgown.

"Breakfast is in 15 minutes Dima, get dressed and then come to my room and we'll go together," she smiled and then slipped out of the room.

He looked around his room and saw an outfit sitting on a chair, a pair of dark trousers and a shirt with a pair of dark plimsole like shoes. He quickly got dressed before he went and knocked on Anastasia's door, who had also quickly gotten dressed.

Breakfast amazed him. That morning they had pancakes, Anastasia wouldn't stop talking about how they were her favourite. They ate quite quickly and Dmitry didn't eat much until he was full. He wasn't used to eating so much food so the feeling of a full stomach was new to him.

Once they had finished Anastasia grabbed his hand and went to pull him out of the room, but before the could leave the Tsar came over and stopped them.

"Anastasia, I need a word with Dmitry, you can play together afterwards." 

Dmitry's face turned white, "No need to be afraid boy, come with me," they walked to Dmitry's room, which he still couldn't believe was his.

"The girls and Alexei don't know this, but I am sure you are well aware, there are revolutions going on in the cities."

"Yes, I am aware, awful things they are."

"I need you to know the reason I let you stay with us," the boy now looked curious and confused, "after the Winter Ball, the girls and Alexei will be moving to France with my mother, it isn't safe for them anymore, I wanted Anastasia to be happy when she left. You cannot tell them this for they are not to know." Dmitry nodded, "On another note, I am only left to believe that Anastasia is going to want you to escort her to the Winter Ball, do you know how to dance?" Dmitry shook his head, Nicholas could tell he was nervous "There is no need to be nervous around me, you can talk, is Mitya okay?"

"Mitya?"

"It is a nickname for Dmitry, it takes away some formality between the two of us, I was hoping it would settle your nerves."

"Oh, yes, Mitya is fine."

"Back to dancing, would you go fetch Anastasia for me," he did exactly that. 

He ran to the young girl's bedroom and knocked on the door, waiting for her approval to allow him in. 

"Come in."

He opened the door but didn't walk all the way in, "Your papa told me to come and get you."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No, I think he wants you to teach me to dance," her face lit up and her smile became bright again. It made Dmitry smile.

"You don't know how to dance? Come on, let's go find papa!" Dmitry seemed to believe Anastasia's favourite thing to do was to grab his hand and pull him around the palace because it's all she ever seemed to do, he didn't complain though. Even if he didn't like it he wouldn't complain. She stopped in her tracks, "wait where are we going?"

As if almost on cue, Nicholas stepped out of Dmitry's room into the grand hallway, "We'll go the ballroom, best place to practice."

Dmitry followed Anastasia and Nicholas into the ballroom, he was nervous. He had never danced before yet here he was, about to dance with a Grand Duchess. It all felt so wrong, but at the same time, he was excited about it. 

"Dima! Listen!" Anastasia playfully hit his arm, taking him away from his thoughts.

"Bit distracted there Mitya?" Nicholas laughed slightly.

"Sorry, your Highness."

"No need to apologise, now, as I was saying, place one of your hands on her waist, and Nastya, hand on his shoulder," they followed, "there you go and then hold hands. Perfect, now Anastasia darling, I know you're used to leading these dances with your sisters and Alexei, but you have to let Dmitry lead okay?" 

She nodded. Nicholas went over to the piano and started playing the tune of a waltz and Anastasia began to count in threes.

It took them a while, due to how tense Dmitry was, but eventually, they started to dance in a light motion and they were spinning around the room. Laughing and giggling together.

In that moment they were just two care-free children. There were no titles to divide them, no one to stop them, they were just having a good time. They swayed and spun around the room as Nicholas played on the piano and the two of them couldn't help but constantly giggle.

"Ow!"

"What- are you- I'm sorry-" Dmitry stepped away from her as soon as he realised he had stepped on her foot.

"Don't be silly Dima, mistakes happen, come on let's dance again!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him in so they could dance again. He spun her round with a little twirl which made her giggle and Nicholas who was watching over them couldn't help but smile.

"Hey!" Dmitry yelped as she then stood on his foot. "You did that on purpose!"

"Yes I did," she stuck her tongue out at him, "what are you going to do about it?"

He gave her a glare before she began to laugh at him.

"You two look as if you're starting to get bored?"

Anastasia giggled nervously as her father walked over to them, "Okay, Anastasia, you can go and play, Dmitry, come with me."

Dmitry was still confused as to why he was getting so much respect from the Tsar, yes he understood that the girls and Alexei were leaving soon, but it still didn't feel like a good enough reason.

He followed the Tsar in silence, unsure on whether he could just randomly start a conversation with him, and he didn't want to risk anything. His eyes were wide as he walked through the palace. There were so many paintings of all the different royals and the members of the families, there were servants running around almost everywhere, floor-length velvet curtains hung from every window and gold, everywhere. There were vases of gold, multiple random little pots of gold, the picture frames were all of the colour of gold. He couldn't help but think how he ended up here.

"You already met Viktor didn't you?" Dmitry nodded as the Tsar opened the door to what seemed to be a massive fitting room, there were several tape measures thrown across the floor, fabric everywhere and so many mirrors. "Viktor," a man came out from behind the mirror.

"Ahhh, your Imperial Highness," he bowed and quickly arose, "Oh, Dmitry, how nice to see you again," he gave a warm smile.

"Dmitry will be escorting Anastasia to the Winter Ball so will need a suit, the girls will be wearing their pink dresses. A suit similar to Alexei's will do perfectly fine. Dmitry when you are done you may go find Anastasia again." A nod from him made him believe that he was supposed to ask her if he could escort her to the ball.

The Tsar left the room leaving Dmitry with Viktor who began to start measuring his arms and legs, around his chest and shoulders. It took ten minutes of Dmitry being measured and Viktor frantically running around the room until he was dismissed.

He began to run through the palace to find Anastasia but managed to bump into a woman. When he looked up and noticed who it was he bowed instantly. "Your-your Imperial Majesty, I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking and-"

"Who are you?"

"I-I'm Dmitry," he was still in his bow.

"You may stand boy, you have manners, to say the least. Why are you running through the palace?"

"Tsar Nicholas told me to see Anastasia once I had finished with Viktor, your Majesty."

"Mama!" He turned to see Nicholas walking over to them, "I see you have met Dmitry, Dmitry, this is my mother," he nodded, "Dmitry you can stand now, Mama, you're almost as bad as Alexandra," a look of horror struck upon her face, resulting in a laugh from Nicholas. He could feel eyes on him again, "He's here until the girls and Alexei leave with you, he's Anastasia's friend."

"Well a friend of Anastasia's is a friend of mine, a pleasure to meet you Dmitry, will you not be accompanying Anastasia to Paris?"

"No, he will be here with us, but I will see that no harm is done to the boy."

Harm? He was instantly confused.

"Nikki, not here," the Empress warned him, "Well, Dmitry if you were off to find Anastasia you best hurry off, I will see you around. Oh, and do not tell Anastasia or any of the other children that you saw me, it's a surprise."

With that, Dmitry nodded and hurried off through the palace, this time a lot more cautious of his surroundings, not wanting to run into anyone again.

He arrived at Anastasia's room and knocked before he entered. There wasn't an answer so he knocked again.

"Go away," he heard a small voice say, he could hear her sniffles. Instead of listening to her, which he probably should have done, he opened the door and walked in. "I said go away!" She began to raise her voice but when she turned and saw it was him her voice lowered again. 

"Anya, are you okay?" That was a silly question, obviously, she wasn't okay.

"Dima if I'd known it was you I-" She got off her bed, where she was previously sitting and ran over to him, practically throwing her arms around him. 

"Anya, what's wrong?" He didn't answer, instead, the girl just cried into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, he wasn't much of a hugger, but that was mainly because he had never had anyone to hug. "I don't know what's wrong but I know what might cheer you up?"

She pulled away and raised her eyebrow at him. Her face was red, eyes all bloodshot from crying and she was sniffling.

"Alyosha- he fell. It was my fault. Mama yelled at me. Told me I should watch him more carefully."

"Anya, I'm sure it wasn't your fault-"

"It was! I'm his big sister, I need to look after him!"

"You're also eight! It shouldn't be blamed on you, now do you want to know how I'm going to cheer you up?"

She nodded slightly.

"So, you know the Winter Ball?" He suddenly got very awkward, he put his hands in his pocket and looked down, "I know all your sisters have got escorts, even Maria, and I know this is your first Winter Ball, and I was wondering, if maybe-"

"If what Dima?"

"If you wanted me to escort you?"

In a sudden excitement, she let out a small squeal and jumped on Dmitry, almost making them both fall over.

"Oh, Dima! Yes yes yes! Thank you!"

She stayed there, her arms wrapped around his chest, and then he resembled her actions, pulling her tighter into a hug. 

"Thank you so much, Dima."

\----

The next couple of weeks were very strange, Dmitry found life in the palace strange enough as it was, but to have extra servants coming in to prepare for a ball, it changed the atmosphere. 

The Tsar still helped him with learning to dance, always with Anastasia, and he enjoyed it so much. He loved spending time with her and he began to get worried, thinking he was getting a crush on her.

Alexandra had begun to take a liking to him as well. Dmitry wasn't just spending time with Anastasia anymore, he also helped with Alexei. Alexei had his doctors and careers, but when he was sick he couldn't be entertained by many, he had no brother. So, Dmitry stepped in, knowing he wouldn't and couldn't be a real kind of brother to him, but getting to spend some time with him, and go to classes with him was enjoyable.

He never really saw Maria, she was never around Anastasia when he was, he assumed she didn't like her, the same for Tatiana, although he did see Tatiana around more often. She was kind to him, but not as nice as Olga was. Olga, when she wasn't busy, would offer to help Dmitry on how to act around the palace, seeing as no one else would. He had learnt not to run around the palace, as well as proper table etiquette. He could trust Olga and that made him happy. Olga had also told him she knew about Paris, she had told him not to tell the younger three until he told her he already knew and had known since not long after arriving at the palace.

He had met the Dowager Empress on a few occasions, mainly at meals, but he was scared of her, despite her telling him the first time they met that any friend of Anastasia's was a friend of hers, he still tried his best to avoid her at all costs.

Nicholas had made Viktor make him some more clothes as well, something more respectable for him to wear around the palace, to seem as if he fit in. He never felt like he belonged, he never would belong.

Dmitry now stood, looking at himself in the mirror. He still felt out of place. He was wearing a similar outfit to Alexei. They were both in a sort of military uniform. It wasn't a military uniform because of their ages, and the colour was different. The trousers were white and the jacket was white with gold decorations and shoulder pads. Nicholas had given him a medal, for what, he didn't know, but it rested on the left side of his chest. They both also had a white sash going across their chests.

"Don't be nervous," he turned and saw Alexei walking over to him, passing him a pair of white gloves. "Wear these."

"I don't belong here Alyosha," he looked down to his feet, he had only been here a couple of weeks and he was still so insecure. 

There was a knock on the door and Dmitry saw a man he had never seen before standing there, "Your Highness," he bowed towards Alexei, "Would you mind if I had a private word with Dmitry here?"

"Of course, your Illustrious Highness," Alexei bowed back making him giggle slightly, "I'm going to find Nastya," he turned to Dmitry, "I'll see you at the ball Mitya!"

"Am I supposed to bow?"

"No, no, don't worry," he closed the door and walked over to the bed, sitting on it and placing a pat, implying Dmitry should sit. "I couldn't help but overhear you saying you don't belong here?" Dmitry nodded, "Can I tell you a secret?" he nodded again, "Neither do I," he said in a whisper. "I am Vladimir Popov, Count Vlad here, but you're the only one who knows, well, Lily knows as well but,"

"How?"

"I look the part, play the part, and surprisingly get away with it. You don't need to worry about not belonging little Dmitry, there are many of us who don't. You're an honest boy Dmitry, that is shown in the way you know you don't belong, I, on the other hand, probably among many of the others, are conmen, we are dishonest men, I should be ashamed. Dmitry, if you ever need someone to talk to because you feel as though you don't belong, I live here in the Palace, just ask for Count Popov. Now, should we head to the ball, we must be there before the royals arrive."

"I'm escorting Anastasia, where do I go?"

"Stand on the staircase once we are in there."

Vlad stood up and Dmitry followed, he'd been to the ballroom before, to practice dancing with Anastasia, but he hadn't seen it prepared for a ball. As of the current moment, there weren't many people in the room, just those who lived in the palace.

There were round tables with white cloths around the outside of the room, sorted so that between all the chairs there was a grand circle for people to dance around. There were chairs on the Grand Staircase, three at the top, one for the Tsar, one for the Tsarina and then one for the Dowager Empress, a few steps down there were five more chairs, one for each of the children. 

There were lights hung by all the windows, silk, golden curtains hung by each. Dmitry had never noticed before, but above all the windows were paintings of all the royals, the previous Tsar's and their families. He looked up at them in amazement. They had all stood in this ballroom before, and here he was in the same room as previous rulers of Russia had stood.

"You want to stand over there," Vlad pointed to where there were two over men standing, and another not much older than him. Maria's escort, he thought to himself. He was on the lowest step, so the man above him must have been Tatiana's escort, the one on the highest would then be Olga's. None of them had a blue sash on, he felt a weight come off his shoulders. He went and stood on the next step and placed his hands behind his back, waiting for Anastasia to arrive.

As he stood there, more and more people started to arrive. There were people wearing other coloured sashes, he assumed they must be counts as they were red, matching Vlad's, and there were so many women in the most elegant dresses. Countesses.

He saw a band in the corner and they all started to raise their instruments, they must be coming. He turned to see Alexei walking in, followed by Anastasia, her strawberry blonde hair was loose, with a blue bow in the back and a sort of pink hat, almost like a crown sat on her head. She was in a pink dress, as the Tsar had said. He knew she was going to be wearing her pink dress but he didn't expect this. 

Her dress was quite a bright pale pink, with silver runs and seams. A cape of sorts, following the same design as the dress, sat on her shoulders, covering her back. She also had a pair of white gloves which covered her elbows and were almost up to her shoulder. He realised she didn't have the blue royal sash on either. The three other girls were also in pink dresses, their hair down, but they had pink bows in instead.

He looked over to Anastasia and she gave him a big smile, she wasn't supposed to, and he knew she wasn't so looked down at his feet quickly.

Alexei walked in front of him and then moved to stand on the step below him. Then he looked up and saw Anastasia standing next to him. He desperately wanted to tell her how pretty she looked but knew he couldn't because of the national anthem playing. 

The Dowager Empress then came in, she was in a purple dress, a crown on her head, she didn't walk down the stairs, but walked over and stood in front of her chair.

Walking hand in hand, the Tsar and Tsarina walked in, she was in a white dress, like a wedding dress, and a large crown on her head. Nicholas was in a similar suit to himself, just with more medals, and he had a cross hanging around his neck.

Alexandra walked over to her chair whereas Nicholas walked down the stairs, to where Anastasia and himself. He looked at Dmitry giving him a nod.

"If you wouldn't mind," Dmitry nodded, he was not one to refuse the Tsar, he knew his place, "The Tsar requests the first dance of the evening, mademoiselle."

Anastasia giggled slightly, "I am the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov," she over gestured her hand out to her father and they walked down the rest of the stairs, beginning to dance.

It was clear to all that Anastasia was her father's favourite, there was never any question towards it. The two danced for a minute before Maria ran down the stairs to join her sister, followed by Olga and Tatiana, the four of them did a little dance before they came back to the stairs and all the guests began to dance.

"Dima we have to go dance!" Anastasia said grabbing his hand and pulling him down the stairs. "We can't go too far into the room. Mama and Papa want me to stay in sight." He nodded. "Dima, what's wrong? You're being very quiet."

"I feel out of place, it's fine, don't worry about me, come on let's dance."

Dmitry placed his hand on her waist and she placed her hand on his shoulder and they started to dance.

"You look really pretty Anya," he plucked up the courage to tell her, but didn't look her in the eye, he was too nervous for that.

"Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself," she giggled and they continued to dance.

Olga and Tatiana had also got up to dance with their escorts.

"That's who we think Olga is going to marry," she whispered as if people weren't supposed to know. 

"She looks happy."

They became silent again and continued to dance. 

"Dima," she stopped dancing for a minute and looked up at him. "Do you think we'll get married one day?"

"I don't think it would be allowed, you're a princess, you should marry a prince."

"What if I don't want to marry a prince, what if I want to marry someone else? Someone who isn't a prince?"

"I- I don't know Anya."

"Let's dance again," Dmitry felt slightly awkward now but he was also happy she had thought about marrying him. Yes, she was only eight, but royals were known to be betrothed from a young age. "Dima, can we go sit down for a little bit?" He nodded, "You don't need to go all quiet on me again, you're fine."

Dmitry stood next to Anastasia who decided she wasn't going to sit because Dmitry didn't have a chair.

Alexei was running up and down the stairs in front of them, "Nastya come play!"

"Alyosha be careful!" She replied watching her brother with caution. "Stop running, I'll come dance-" before she could finish her sentence Alexei fell down the stairs. "Mama! Papa!" She turned to Dmitry as fear filled her face, "go get Mama and Papa!" She began to cry as she ran down the stairs. 

Dmitry ran up the stairs to where the Tsar and Tsarina were sitting, along with the Dowager Empress, he was slightly out of breath due to how many stairs there were.

"Excuse me,"

"You'll address us properly if you want to speak to us," Dmitry simply shook his head when the Tsarina spoke to him.

"Alexei," he pointed towards the stairs, "he fell!"

He ran back down the stairs, followed directly by Nicholas, Alexandra slightly behind them, taking her longer to get down the stairs in her dress.

"Anastasia, out the way," her father commanded, but she refused to move, "Dmitry would you."

"Anya, come on," he grabbed her arm and pulled her back slightly. When he pulled her away she turned to his chest and cried louder, her sisters were around, them crying as well.

"Nikki, I told you the children were too young!"

"It's their last ball Alix, I didn't want them to miss it."

"Last ball?" Tatiana questioned.

"Paris," Olga simply whispered, the realisation hitting Tatiana in an instant.

"Mama! No!" Tatiana cried but Olga held her back.

"Maria, Anastasia, Tatiana go back to your rooms." A doctor was now with Alexei, making sure he was okay and the Tsar had stepped back. "Olga, Dmitry, go with them, neither of you will speak anything of Paris until after I have spoken to them. Yes?" They both nodded and ran after the other three girls.

Dmitry ran to Anastasia's room, he didn't knock anymore, she had told him not to.

"Go away Dmitry."

"No. Anya, you're my first real friend, I'm going to leave you alone when you're upset."

There was a soft knock at the door, Dmitry ran over and sat on the bed, claiming a space next to her, assuming it was her sisters at the door.

"Come in," she whispered, she sniffled and wiped her nose against her wrist, she had thrown her gloves on the floor.

He was correct, as all three of her sisters came in and walked over to her bed.

"What was Papa talking about, this being our last ball?" Maria finally asked as they had been sitting in silent, other than the sound of Anastasia's tears.

"I don't know," Olga replied very quickly, Dmitry looked over to her and he gave her a simple nod. "I'm sure Papa will come and explain in a minute. He's looking after Alexei right now."

The five of them continued to sit in silence until there was another knock at the door and Nicholas walked in, followed by Alexei and the Dowager Empress. Alexei walked over and joined the five of them on Anastasia's bed, Nicholas and Marie didn't move far from the door.

"Children, I have some good news and some bad news."

"Is this about this being our last ball?"

"Yes Maria, it's your last ball here in Russia anyway, I am sure there will be many balls your Nana will take you to in Paris."

"Papa, don't make us go please, I want to stay here with you and Mama!" Tatiana exclaimed sobs suddenly came from her and Olga grabbed onto her sister tight.

"Russia isn't safe for you anymore my children."

"Papa, what do you mean?" Anastasia spoke, and as she did she grabbed Dmitry's hand.

"You're going to move to Paris, and you're going to live with your Nana until Russia is safe for you again."

The atmosphere in the room dropped, all four of the girls began to cry. Alexei was confused, he didn't completely understand that he was moving away from his Mama and Papa. Anastasia began to cry more when her father told her Dmitry was to stay in Russia. She gripped onto Dmitry tight as she continued to cry, she didn't want to let him go or leave him.

\---

A few days had passed and the children, minus Dmitry, had all packed for Paris. They were now all in the grand entrance, waiting for a carriage.

"Dima," Anastasia grabbed his hand and pulled him to the side, "I want you to have this, Nana gave it to me the last time she left for Paris, but I won't need it until I'm back in Russia because I'll be with her every night." He could tell she was trying not to cry again. "It's a music box if you spin the thing at the bottom and lift the lid it sings that song you like to hear me sing."

"I'm going to miss you," they were the only words Dmitry could get out. He pulled her into a hug, "like really miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too!" He could feel his shoulder getting wet from her crying.

"Anya, we'll see each other soon!"

"You'll come and visit me in Paris right? Nana says there's a bridge there named for my Grandfather, and there's ballet, Dima if you come to Paris we will have to visit them! Promise me you'll come and visit me in Paris!"

"I promise Anya," he held her close, he didn't want her to leave.

"Anastasia, it's time to go," the Dowager Empress came over to them, "I hope to see you in Paris Dmitry, just not too soon," understanding what she meant completely he gave a small nod.

They started to head out of the palace, all the girls crying, just as she was about to walk out the door Anastasia turned and ran back over to him and flung her arms around him. "I meant what I said at the ball, we will get married one day Dima, I know we will," she giggled through her tears.

"Anastasia!"

"Yes Nana, I'm coming," she wiped her eyes, "I love you Dima, bye."

"Goodbye Anya, I love you too," she watched as she ran out the door to catch up with her sisters and brother.

"I'll take care of them, Nikki, they'll be safe in Paris."

"I know Mama, that's not the only reason I am worried."

"You will see them again."

The Dowager Empress walked out the door and it shut behind her. Dmitry began to cry and Nicholas noticed, "come here my boy," he pulled him into a hug. "You will see her again."

\--- 9 YEARS LATER - JULY 1918 ---

Dmitry sat outside in the snow. It was cold, very cold, the guards had just dismissed him and he didn't know why.

He reached for Anastasia's music box in his pocket and opened it to let it play. Oh, how he missed the girl he had fallen in love with. 

It still surprised him to this day at the age of eight she knew she wanted to marry him, he didn't realise until he was 16. They wrote letters to each other frequently, he had to be more careful now though, the Bolshevik's read everything. He never called her Anastasia or Nastya now, always Anya.

He had travelled a lot this year. Moving from the Winter Palace to the Catherine Palace in early February, only for the February revolution to take place and have everyone living there moved to the Alexander Palace. It was Nicholas' favourite Palace so everyone assumed they would be okay. Then a few months ago they were moved to Tobolsk and it was clear something wasn't right. Here they now were in Yaketerinburg. 

Ipatiev house he believed it was called.

They had been awoken in the early hours of the morning. All told to get dressed, everyone apart from the Tsar and Tsarina were dismissed immediately and placed on a train. Dmitry managed to escape, though.

So here he now sat, in the cold, in the snow, back to his life as a street rat.

It wasn't until the music box stopped playing he heard it.

He could hear the screams.

He could hear the gunshots.

Twelve he counted.

That was when he knew the Tsar and Tsarina were dead.

He slept in the cold, and he cried himself to sleep.

Nicholas and Alexandra had raised him over the past nine years and he couldn't be more thankful for that. He saw them as a mother and father, they never really were, but as their children were off in Paris he felt as though the treated him as his own at times.

That night he dreamed of them. He dreamed of being at the Winter Ball in the Catherine Palace nine years ago, he dreamed of dancing with her, with Anastasia.

The Winter Ball was his first of many, the only one he had danced at though. All the other balls he just sat in a chair alongside the Tsar and Tsarina, looking at the five empty chairs that were always on the steps below them. 

When he awoke he knew there was a place he needed to be, and that was with her. That's when he started his long journey to Paris.


	2. Chapter 2

\--- JULY 1918 --- PARIS ---

Anastasia sat on her bed as she read her most recent letter from Dmitry.

𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘠𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘨 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 .𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦.

She frowned as she read this. Between them, they had deciphered a sort of code as the Bolsheviks would censor anything they didn't like. To avoid this, Dmitry would put incorrect punctuation when he was telling a lie. The house they were in wasn't nice, she couldn't help but imagine what it was like. Probably dark and cold and cramped.

𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘧𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘢, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯.  
𝘋𝘪𝘮𝘢  
16.07.18

Moving them again?

She got up and ran downstairs to the drawing room, where her nana would be.

"Nana!" She ran into the room and when she did everyone looked at her. The room was cold and everyone was crying. "What's wrong-" she saw a letter on the table. It must have been delivered this morning.

"Nastya-" Lily walked over to her placing a hand on her shoulder, she looked over to Vlad, he saw there were tears in his eyes.

They couldn't be.

"No-" a tear escaped her eyes. "All- all of them?" she stuttered. Her sisters were holding each other, crying into each other. Alexei was sat on the sofa, a blank expression on his face. He was refusing to cry and she could see that. Her grandmother sat there, looking into the distance, the letter was on the desk right in front of her.

She looked back to Alexei, "Alyosha-" a small nodding motion came from.

Her mother and father were dead. She turned and saw Lily standing with her arms wide open, she fell to her embrace as a sob escaped through her mouth and tears started to fall from her eyes.

It wasn't until she felt Vlad's hand on her shoulder she realised.

"Dima-" she pulled away from Lily and looked to Vlad who was now evidently crying. "No, not Dima," she was starting to raise her voice, "tell me Dima is okay!" Nobody answered her.

She ran out of the room and up the stairs, tears made her vision blurry. She flung her bedroom door open and collapsed on her bed as she began to cry more.

She'd lost her mama, her papa, and her love. 

She never even got to reply to his last letter.

Her Dima was gone. 

She continued to cry into her pillow, she doesn't know how long she cried for when there was a knock on the door.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," she managed to let out, it was muffled as her head was still in her pillow.

She heard the door click open, "I said-" she turned and saw Vlad standing in the doorway.

"I'm sorry your highness-"

"It isn't your highness anymore, we're not royals anymore."

"Nastya, you'll always be a royal. May I sit?" She nodded and he walked over sitting on her bed, she then sat up.

"I never got to see him again, he promised me-" she began to cry again and he pulled her into an embrace.

They sat together in her room for hours as Anastasia continued to cry over him, Vlad had then told her how they got close over the few years before he left for Paris and how he wished he'd argued more with the Tsar to bring the boy with him. She understood he couldn't argue with his father though.

Anastasia cut herself off from her family for almost the next few months. She never ate with them, never spoke with them, didn't attend any family events. Every night she cried herself to sleep.

In what was morning in late October she woke up and she felt slightly better, she greeted her brother and met the rest of her family in the dining room for breakfast.

"Glad to see you're feeling better Anastasia, I have someone I'd like you to meet after breakfast." She nodded in response to her Nana. There was very small conversation through breakfast, but it didn't matter, there was a lighter mood in the room now all the family was together.

Once they had finished Anastasia followed her Nana into the parlour, in there a young man stood. At first, she thought it could be him, and as she did tears filled her eyes. She went to speak but was cut off before she could say a word.

"Anastasia, this is Gleb, he is a count from Romania."

The man turned to look at them and then he bowed, "Your Imperial Majesty, Your Highness, the pleasure is all mine."


	3. Chapter 3

\--- 1924 ---

Dmitry stood at the top of the hill as he looked over the Parisian skyline. It was dark and the lights of the city lit up the sky, he could just make out the outline of the Eiffel tower. The city glittered and glowed and he found it hard to believe he was finally here. 

6 years of travelling and he had finally made it to Paris. 

He was going to his Anya. 

From where he stood he could make out several palaces, he just had to find out which she was living in. Surely it wasn’t that late now and there would be people on the streets. 

He remembered Anya telling him out her Grandfather’s bridge, he’d asked the Tsar more about it once she had left. Pont Alexander. He decided that was where he would go, maybe, if he was lucky, she’d be there. Or one of her sisters would be, or Alexei possibly. 

Would any of them recognise him though?

He started to head into the city, everywhere he looked there were couples and people beautifully dressed. He'd never seen so much colour in his life, there were women in blue dresses, pink dresses, orange dresses and green dresses, men in white suits and blue suits and red suits, it all amazed him. The fashion here was nothing like the rags he had in Russia or the dark clothing he was now wearing.

Once again, just like he did when he was ten, Dmitry began to feel out of place.

As he walked through the streets he saw a blue dress in a shop window. He would be coming back for that. Alexander had made him sew diamonds into his clothes and he had a few left. He had traded a few off but he couldn't sell them all. They were extra special now the Tsarina and Tsar has passed.

He didn't notice he had begun to cry. He missed them so much. In just a few short months it would be the 6 year anniversary and he wasn't ready for the nightmares to haunt him again.

He continued to walk through the streets of Paris, clinging on to the bag that possessed his- her music box, and the little possessions he had left.

Tears continued to fill his eyes as he walked through Paris, his thoughts had consumed him. What if Anastasia didn't want to know him anymore? What if she didn't recognise him, she probably wouldn't as it had been 15 years since they had last seen each other, surely they had both changed.

He stopped in his tracks when he noticed all the bright lights in front of him. He looked up and saw it, Le Pont Alexander III, as it was affectionately called by Parisians.

He looked around at himself, in the square, at the bridge, by the river, and there was the Grand Palais, they must be living there. 

As he walked onto the bridge he realised he was alone. Anastasia and he had said how they would cross this bridge together, yet here he was, alone, crossing this bridge. His future was all on crossing this bridge. One side, if he turned back was his past, the other side was the palace and his future.

He walked over to the wall of the bridge as he looked over the ledge he noticed how the moon shimmered onto the Sein. Halfway between where I've been and where I'm going, he couldn't help but think.

There was a silence for a moment, which was soon overcome by some birds flying over the bridge, he sighed to himself. This city was so beautiful, and here he was, his first view of it, alone. Maybe Anastasia was looking out her window right now, sharing this beautiful night with him, but he didn't know.

He was taken out of his thoughts when he believed he heard someone calling his name.

As he turned he saw a figure running towards him.

"Dmitry?" He couldn't quite make the figure out, but it was definitely a woman. "Oh, Dmitry it is you!" The woman ran closer to him and pulled him into an embrace. As the woman pulled away he realised it was Olga and his eyes filled with tears again. "We- we thought you were dead Dmitry, we thought- never mind, you must come to the Palace with me now."

He'd done it. He had found his family.

Olga grabbed his hand and practically pulled him to the other side of the bridge, running as fast as she could.

She flung the door open and Dmitry was greeted by servants giving him a funny look.

"Tatiana! Nana! Masha! Alyosha!"

"There- there all here?" Dmitry whispered, she turned and smiled at him giving him a nod.

"All apart from-"

She was cut off by Tatiana screaming Dmitry's name and running down the stairs to greet him, she pulled him into a warm embrace. "You're alive," she sobbed into his shoulder, "you're actually alive!"

Maria and Alexei had also followed them down the stairs.

"Who is that?" He overheard Alexei whisper to Maria, she shrugged in response.

"Alyosha do you not remember me?" His heart broke as he spoke the words, a small nod from the boy who had turned into a fine young man. He was twenty now, resembled his father exactly, and when he noticed his Tsar like features he began to cry. "If- if you don't mind me saying," he walked over to Alexei, "but you look exactly like your father."

Maria gasped and stood back. Olga and Tatiana gasped as well, they all knew their father but also hadn't seen him in almost 15 years, it was hard for them to remember what he looked like.

"Mitya were you-" he shook his head, knowing exactly what Tatiana meant.

"We were woken at 2am, they were taken downstairs to the basement, everyone else was taken outside but I slipped away, I was in the woods by the house when-" he felt Olga place her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay you don't have to talk about it." He nodded and she pulled him into another embrace.

"What's all this fuss going on?" He pulled away from Olga as he saw Marie walk down the stairs, she was in all black, which did not take him by surprise, he waited until she was at the bottom of the stairs to address her.

"Your Imperial Majesty," he bowed as he said this.

"No, it- it can't be, but you're-"

"It's nice to see you alive and well as well your Majesty," he charmed back.

"Still the charming boy I remember, oh Dmitry, come give Nana a hug," he laughed as he went over and took to her embrace. "I cannot imagine what you have been through."

"It's taken me 6 years to get here, Alexander gave me a couple diamonds but I wouldn't trade them all, I had to work to get train tickets. I had the Bolsheviks after me as well at one point, had to jump off a train to escape them."

"You've seen too much cruelty in this world for a man of your age Dmitry."

"Why do I recognise that name?" Another utterance he overheard, this time Maria to Alexei.

"Maria darling, you may remember him more as Dima-"

"Dima, as in, Nastya's Dima?"

The girl was as innocent as she always had been, he nodded in response.

"Speaking of Nastya, where is she?"

He didn't get a response.

"Maybe we should discuss that after dinner, go get yourself cleaned up, Pierre here will show you to your room, feel free to come and join us in the Parlour when you are ready."

He nodded and followed Pierre up the stairs. This palace was a lot smaller than those in Russia, especially the Catherine Palace. There was also less gold, everything here was white. There were photos of the children on all the walls and as he got to the end of the corridor he was being walked down he saw a large photo on the wall. It was from the Winter Ball. He stood next to Anya and he was holding her hand. He missed her.

"This one is your room," Pierre spoke in French, fortunately for him, the Tsar kept tutors for him so Dmitry could speak perfect French and English now.

"Thank you," he nodded as he walked into the room.

He quickly showered and then dressed and then headed out of the room where he was greeted by Tatiana.

"I need to show you something before Nana tells you were Nastya is," he nodded.

He followed Tatiana into another room, "this is-"

"Anya's room," he murmured under his breath. He walked over to her nightstand and on it was a picture of her and him, another from the Winter Ball, a tear fell down his face.

"Mitya, the box on her dresser," he walked over to her dresser where he saw the box Tatiana must have been on about. "Open it."

What he found made the tears filling his eyes fall down his face.

"She kept them," he turned to look at her, a smile crept upon her lips and she nodded.

"He told her to burn them but she refused so she keeps them here."

"What do you mean, he?"

"You might want to talk to Nana now."

Tatiana ran out of the room after realising she had said too much and he followed her, running down the stairs into the parlour.

"Who, who is she with," his voice was stern and he caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Dmitry, sit" he did as Marie told him, "You have to understand that we believed you were dead," he nodded, he was cross, he didn't want to hear anything else as we knew what was coming, "well, because of her age-"

"She has a husband," pain struck his heart.

"Not exactly-" Olga interrupted.

"Olga, please. Now Dmitry, I am not telling you to do anything, but I am also not telling you to not do anything," he nodded, read between the lines, got it. "Anastasia is promised to another man, his name is Gleb, they aren't married yet, it was only last year she began to see him, she refused to because she always believed you would come back, but five years and she suddenly lost hope, none of us could stop her because none of us had hope in the first place. When you hear someone is dead," Dmitry nodded, showing he understood, "she tells me frequently she doesn't love this man, and she often speaks of you when she is here, how she misses you and wishes she was with you, it broke my heart when she said that. She went through a point where she didn't want to live anymore Dmitry. But this man, he has a power over her, she sees us less and less nowadays, she is always with him, we know she isn't a fan of him. But until now we had no one else for her to marry if you understand what I am trying to say."

"I think so-" he paused, "Not to be rude, but is there somewhere I could get a drink?"

"The Neva Club," Tatiana spoke, "I'll walk you there."

There walk was silent, until they arrived.

"I'm sorry about Anastasia, she should be here tonight, she usually is on a Thursday, Gleb has some meeting and she sneaks away, I didn't want to tell you in front of Nana, Vlad and Lily should be there as well."

"Vlad?" She nodded, "have fun Mitya, I guess I shall see you in the morning," with that she turned and walked in the opposite direction.

When he walked in there was music playing and he saw a woman sitting on the bar, he would recognise her ginger locks from anywhere, Lily. She was here. In Paris. In the Neva Club.

Around her were several people, dressed outfits they clearly wouldn't wear through the day. There were several barmen who didn't seem to mind that she was sitting on the bar so he got the feeling she was a regular here.

"We're out of second chances so why are we here except to forget?" She was drinking, which didn't surprise him. "Life is a leaky sieve, pass me a glass and give me a bow and drink to the countess nobody now, why should I care as long as I dare to live?"

Several people shouted 'land of yesterday' and he couldn't help but laugh, this was definitely the Lily he remembered before she and Vlad left for France.

"Let's run up the bill as if we're still royalty at play!"

There were several cheers' to Russia which he found pretty ironic. The whole idea of the Neva Club actually made him laugh. At least he knew where to find every other white Russian in Paris.

He saw Vlad in the corner of the room, he could only believe that he thought he was dead as well.

When he looked back to Lily she was now on a bench in the centre of the room, everyone circling her, Vlad had also joined in.

He snuck into the circle and then once everyone had disburse climbed up onto the bench and tapped her on the shoulder. 

The first glace from her he didn't get a response and then she screamed.

"Dmitry!" He felt her arms suddenly wrap around him.

"Lily what are you- is that-" he heard Vlad's voice and then pulled away from Lily's embrace to meet Vlad's gaze, "You're alive!" Vlad pulled him down and into a hug, "my boy! You're alive!" He felt Lily wrap around the back of him and he was suddenly in a countess and conman sandwich and he didn't know how he felt about it.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, just get me a drink, or seven."

"You know about-"

"Unfortunately. I need a drink."

Several hours later, Dmitry had told Vlad the entire story of what had happened after he had left, what happened in Yaketerinburg and then his journey to Paris. Even though he was drunk, he still struggled to recall the events without getting upset. He then told him about what had happened since he had arrived and how Tatiana had told him Anastasia would be here tonight.

"Dmitry," Vlad spoke nudging him slightly, he pointed over to a girl in the corner of the room.

"Is that really her?" He slurred.

She was even more beautiful than she remembered. Her hair was half up half down, with a braid going across the top of her hair. Her strawberry locks were long, she always said she would never get it cut, she clearly lived by it. He managed to catch her eyes from where he was sitting, the deep, ocean blue Romanov eyes. She was in a purple dress that cut just below her knee.

He stumbled over to her, "H-hi-" when she looked up at him he could tell she didn't recognise him, she had the same look on her face as Maria and Alexei did. His heart broke a little more and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes, but then he noticed a tear fall down her face. "Are you okay?" She simply shook her head, "Do you want to maybe talk about it?"

She nodded and began to pour out stories about her husband-to-be. She told him about how he never let her see her family, he told her what she could and could not wear. He could tell the alcohol had taken to her as she told him how he was mad that she would always refuse to have sex with him.

"The worst thing is I don't love him, I'm in love with someone else," she continued to cry.

"Who?"

"Some-" she took a deep breath, "someone I knew a long time ago, he-he died though," it took a moment for him to realise what she had said, she was in love with him.

"Anastasia do you-"

"How do you know my name?"

"I know your sisters, Olga and Tatiana," he so badly wanted to remind her who he was, but he thought it was probably best if he did it in the morning when they were both sober enough to not fuck anything up. "Do you want to take you back to the palace, I'm staying in one of the rooms."

"Nana let you stay in the Palace? Wow, you must be really close with my sisters!"

"Something like that."

"What?"

"Nothing, come on," he grabbed her hand and they started to walk back to the Palace. He had stopped drinking as soon as he had seen her and was starting to sober up, he could see her beauty more now and it was taking everything inside of him not to kiss her. 

His arm was around her waist, making sure she wouldn't fall as they walked, she kept giggling, oh how he had missed her giggle.

"This," she gestured her arms out, "this is my grandfather's bridge," she giggled, "I always dreamed my first kiss would be here with my handsome prince."

"Was it?"

"No, I haven't had it yet," he took a moment to take in that information. She hadn't kissed Gleb yet. That made him smile, at least he knew she was still in love with him.

When they walked into the palace he looked at the clock, 2:30 AM, they couldn't wake anyone up.

"Anya, we have to be quiet okay?"

"What did you just call me?" She said in a soft voice, thankfully she acknowledged what he had said.

"Er, Ana, come on, you need to go to bed."

He helped her up the stairs, which was a struggle as they were both quite drunk and she was very giggly.

He walked into her room and smiled at the photo on the nightstand.

"Will-will you stay with me?"

"Let me get changed, but yes," it felt wrong, he shouldn't do this, she was drunk and to her, in this current state, he was a complete stranger. Yet he found himself running to his room, changing into a pair of trousers and a white tank top and then came back to her room.

When he looked at her, her hair was now completely down and she had changed into a white nightdress, she had taken all of her makeup off and he could see the small freckles around her nose. She looked beautiful. Her hair looked slightly longer now it was all down, looking as if it went all the way to her lower back, but he couldn't quite tell as she was facing him. Her figure as well, it was clear she was no longer the eight-year-old girl he remembered-

"What are you looking at?" she slurred taking him out of his thoughts. 

"Erm-"

"Just- bed," he laughed at her slightly as she stumbled over to her bed.

"Are you sure you want me to stay?" She nodded, Dmitry knew this was wrong, they were both drunk and he so badly wanted to kiss her, he didn't know how he was going to control himself.

They got into her bed and she placed her head on his chest. The familiar feeling of her body against his, her warmth, her smell, her being there. He was happy she was with him, even though she currently had no clue who he was.

The morning was going to be interesting.

He felt her steady breaths and noticed she had very quickly fallen asleep.

"I love you," he whispered, meaning every word.

\---

Dmitry woke up with a pounding in his head.

He went to move his arm until he realised there was someone sleeping on it. He looked over and the events of the previous night suddenly came back to him. Anastasia was lying on him, he should be happy, but he wasn't, she wouldn't recognise him when she woke up. And that was in the following seconds.

A loud slam of the front door awoke almost everyone in the palace.

"Where is she?" He heard a loud male voice scream. 

Anastasia jolted up and threw the covers, jumping out of the bed. She turned to look at Dmitry.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he could hear the panic in her voice. "Did we-" Dmitry shook his head quickly.

"Are you okay?"

"Anastasia?" Another loud scream from the man.

"Fuck!"

"Hey, breathe, it's alright."

"No, it's not!" There was a knock at her door, "Shit! Nothing is okay because there is a complete stranger in my bed and I don't remember a thing of last night."

Dmitry knew it was coming but being called a stranger shattered his heart more than he thought possible.

"I- I need to go to Gleb, just stay here, erm I'm sorry-" She opened the door and ran past Tatiana who was standing at the door.

She looked over at him and the look on her face grew smug.

"Did you two-"

"I wish, she doesn't even recognise me."

"With me. Now."

To this day, despite everything that had happened, he would never disobey a royal. 

He quickly got up and followed Tatiana out of the room, she was in a nightdress, similar to the one Anastasia had previously been wearing.

He stood at the top of the stairs, where she had led him to, standing with Olga, Maria and Alexei.

"Is that-" he didn't need to finish his sentence before the three girls answered him with a nod.

"We're leaving, now Anastasia!"

"How is he allowed to speak to her like that?"

"None of us will speak up to him, look at him," Maria gestured down to where he was standing.

"Maybe I should, I mean, we promised each other."

"Oh, I remember you now!" Alexei almost screamed, resulting in Anastasia and Gleb looking up to them. She was crying and it was clear.

"Nastya!" Maria ran down the stairs to hug her sister but before she could get to her Gleb grabbed her arm and pulled her away. The other two girls, Alexei and Dmitry had followed Maria down the stairs.

"Gleb, I think it's best you leave," Dmitry spoke, making the three girls stand behind him. He felt as if this whole thing was a childish game.

"Sorry, but who are you?"

"An old friend of the Romanovs, I haven't seen them in fifteen years, you wouldn't know me."

Anastasia turned and looked at him.

"Fi-fifteen years-" he smiled lightly at her and nodded, "no- you-"

"Anastasia, we are leaving. Now," he grabbed her arm forcefully and started to pull her away and out the door.

"Leave her alone," Dmitry ran other and pulled Gleb away from her seeing that he had clearly hurt Anastasia where he had grabbed her. 

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Wow you really are an asshole aren't you?"

"You know when Anya was telling me about you last night I only thought you might be a dick, but no you definitely are one."

"Wh-what did you just call me-"

"Erm- Ana-"

"No- no you didn't- did you just call me- no-"

"Nastya," she turned to look at Olga who had just called for sister, she had a sympathetic smile on her face.

She turned and looked back at the man who was currently a stranger. She looked at his dark hair, it was longer than the shortcut the ten-year-old she once knew had, it now fell over his forehead slightly. His eyebrows were dark and thick, and his eyes, every shade of brown you could imagine, a raw umber and caramel mix, dotted with bits of dark chocolate. There was a slight darkness around his jawline, looking as if there was some stubble growing. Looking at him properly, taking him in, she saw the ten-year-old he used to be. And yes, he had changed, he had grown, much taller, and he was still wearing his tank top and it was clear how big his muscles were, but although he had changed, he also hadn't changed. There was a small smile on his face, and it was the exact same smile he had given her whenever he told her he felt as if he didn't belong, she would always tell him she would make him belong and he would give her that smile.

"No- no you can't be-" she looked to her sisters and Alexei and then back to Gleb, he was angry, then she looked back to him. She refused to think his name, refused to believe it was him, he was dead. He died. Six years ago. With her parents. "No-"

"Nastya-"

"No, Olya, no," she looked back to him, tears in her eyes, "how- no you're- you're dead!" She ran up the stairs, pushing past her siblings, ignoring Gleb as he continued to yell at her telling her they were leaving. 

"Gleb get out!" Olga screamed at him, "Can't you see she's upset. She isn't going to marry you, she doesn't love you!"

"What's going on in here?" Marie appeared at the top of the stairs, "Is Anastasia okay?"

"She saw Dmitry and we think-"

"Dmitry what are you still standing there for? Go to her, immediately. Gleb, my granddaughter will not be marrying you, please leave."

"That's not how it works-"

"Get out!" She raised her voice at him and he turned and left almost immediately. "Dmitry, you're supposed to be somewhere."

It took Dmitry a second, but before he even realised, his feet had taken control and he was running to her room.

He looked at the portrait at the end of the corridor from the winter ball and took a deep breath before he went to knock on the door.

"We're going to Lily's for breakfast, all of us, it'll just be you and Nastya," he looked to Alexei and nodded as the young boy went into his own room, to change out of his night clothes.

They were going to be alone.

He knocked softly on the door, he didn't get a response, he could hear her sobs through the door though.

He followed the actions of what he would've done when he was ten, he opened the door and walked in. She didn't move when he opened the door as if he was just a ghost in the room.

He approached the bed, she was sitting on the far side, looking away from the door.

He climbed onto the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Anya-" he whispered.

"You-you can't be here-"

"I'm here Anya, I promise you, this is real. I promised you I would come to Paris and we would be together and we would-" he paused, "we would get married, I promised you."

"But- the letter- it said-"

"Look at me," his voice was soft, he sat back slightly in hopes she would turn to look at him and she did. "I promise you, Anya, I am alive and I am here with you, right now," he raised his hand and cupped her face with his hand. She smiled lightly and he used his thumb to wipe the tears from her face.

"But how-how are you here?"

"Anya do you-"

"Tell me."

"They woke us up, it was the middle of the night, they told us all to get dressed. They-they were taken to the basement but we were all escorted out of the house, there was a truck waiting for us but I slipped away. I stayed by the trees, waiting for them to come out- then-" he paused, "I heard the screams before the shots." 

"You're here?" He nodded, she started to lean in and he did too before he pulled back.

"Get dressed, I'm doing this properly."

"Doing what?"

"You'll have to wait and see, just hurry and get dressed," following what he said he quickly dashed out the room to his own, throwing on a shirt and trousers and a pair of shoes before going to meet Anya.

She stood outside her bedroom door in a white dress that came to just below her knee and a pair of white heels.

He couldn't help but think he should've brought that blue dress he saw in the shop window. Her hair was up.

"Take it down."

"What?"

"Your hair, take it down."

"But-"

"No one else is here, no one cares but me, take it down."

"Well, you speak your mind more than you did before," she giggled as she removed her hair from the bun it was in and let it fall down her back.

"Beautiful," he reached his arm out for her to take it, "if you would follow me, princess," he winked at her as he did.

"Okay, now I really believe you're here. I told you never to call me that!"

"Clearly hasn't stopped me, now come on," he walked her down the stairs and grabbed a pair of keys that were hooked by the door, knowing he would need them to get back in.

He walked her to her grandfather's bridge.

"When you were eight, you said we would come here together, and last night, I don't know if you remember, you said a couple things that made me very happy to hear."

She went scarlet and looked down, he grabbed both her hands and pulled her towards the wall so they could look over the Sein. 

"You told me you were in love with someone, someone you knew a long time ago, and you also told me," he moved closer to her, standing behind her, wrapping his arms around her chest and resting his head on hers, she was tiny, "you also told me that you wanted your first kiss to be in Paris with a handsome prince-"

"Dima-"

"Now I'm no Prince,"

"Dima-" he spun her around so he was towering over her, looking down into her eyes, his arms now around her waist.

"When we were moved to Tobolsk we had a lot of our belongings taken away from us, your mother made me sew a few diamonds into my clothes, she knew what was coming, so did your father. They told me if I ever had a chance to run I should. I forgot she made me sew something else into my underclothes as well."

"Is that-"

"Your mother's wedding ring? Yes. I had many conversations with them whenever you wrote a letter to me, it was your father who made me realise I was in love with you, and because he knew what was coming, he knew his fate, he said when I made it to Paris, his blessing would be there. I never thought I'd get your mother's blessing, but she gave me the ring, told me to sew it into my clothes, she told me 'never remove that ring until the right moment, keep it hidden and keep it safe, tell her to treasure it forever, and tell her that her mama will always love her' and I knew I had it," there were tears falling in her eyes, "so, by saying I wanted to do this right, I didn't know when I was ten that I loved you, and looking back at it now, I know now that I did, and clearly you loved me or you never would've said you wanted to marry me," she giggled, "so, my dearest Anya, my Anastasia, my princess," she pushed him back slightly, he stood back slightly and got onto one knee, she was in tears by this point, her hands were holding her face and he could see the smile that spread across her face, "will you do the honours, of now offically, promising to be my wife?"

"Just like when I was eight?"

He nodded, "except this time with a ring," he smiled as she nodded.

"Yes," she smiled as she grabbed him and pulled him so he was standing, "yes Dima, you know that yes, yes."

He grabbed her waist, picking her up and spinning her before placing her back on the ground, he looked into her deep blue Romanov eyes, the ones he had madly fallen in love with before he leant down to kiss her.

Their lips connected for the first time and everything felt right. Her lips were soft against his, whereas his were rough and saw, his lips being split from travelling so often. He moved one of his hands to cup her face while the other rested on her waist, her breath minty, clearly from brushing her teeth before they left.

She pulled away, looking up at him smiling.

"Your hand, if you may," she gestured her left hand out to him which resulted in him giving her a look of confusion, "right hand isn't it?"

"Oh," she giggled, "it depends, are we doing this Russian Orthodox or Catholic?"

"I don't care, I'm marrying you, so I really don't care," he slipped the ring onto her left ring finger and fortunately the ring fit perfectly.

"Mama really gave you permission?" he nodded.

"Twice actually, when she gave me that ring and just before-" he paused, "she told me to go to Paris and find you, her exact words were 'get to Paris and give her that ring before someone else beats you to it', I guess I got here in the nick of time."

"You make it seem as if Mama began to care for you a lot."

"She did, she had the love for five children and couldn't put it anywhere, the same for your father, so they gave it to me, showered me in love, more than I ever deserved."

"I still don't know why they made you stay-"

"They told them I was Alexei, that you four girls had gone to France, but the heir was still in Russia, they figured out I wasn't when we got to Ipatiev House, at that point your father said Alexei had died because of his haemophilia, they actually believed him."

"Will you tell me one day?"

"What?"

"Everything, as much as you can, you had to lie in some of your letters, I know, so I want to know-"

"Anya I don't think you do, it was horrible-"

"Not now, but one day, please tell me, about them, how they were, what they did."

"One day."

"Can we go back to the Palace, I'm cold." He nodded.

He took her hand as they took a small stroll across her Grandfather's bridge.

"We're coming back here tonight, when all the lights are on." She didn't ask why he said it, knowing he would explain to her later. She rested her head on his arm as they walk back over to the palace.

They entered the palace and Anya went immediately to her room, Dmitry didn't exactly follow, he went upstairs with her but instead turned to go to his room.

"Dima, where are you going?"

"I'll be there in a second, I just need to get something," Anya turned and walked into her room, she sat on her bed crossed leg, waiting for him to return. 

When he entered her room, he did his usual of entering without knocking. His hands were in his pockets and she knew he was hiding something.

"Okay, so I need to know the rules."

"Rules?"

"Sleeping in the same bed Anya," he had walked over so now he was standing directly in front of her.

She stood up on her bed to match his height, she succeeded in being slightly taller than him, "I have just spent fifteen years apart from you, six of which I thought you were dead, you are never leaving my side," she cupped his face and kissed him, only a quick kiss as she quickly pulled away, "now what are you hiding in your pocket mister?"

She wasn't expecting him to pull our her music box. "You-you kept it?"

"It never left me, I played it almost every night," she smiled as she looked up at him, "every night to sing me to sleep."

"Dima-"

"I missed you," he placed the music box on her nightstand, next to the photo of them as children, "I missed you so much Anya you don't even know."

"Fifteen years, I do know," she looked at the photo of them sitting on the nightstand before she looked back to him.

They stared at each other for a minute, lost in each others' eyes.

"Dima-" 

Before she could finish her though, Dmitry crashed his lips against her, wrapping his arms around her hips pulling her closer. As she kissed him back he lifted her up slightly and she leant over, leaving her weight on him as she wrapped her legs around his hips. His arms moved to the top of her back, supporting her so she wouldn't fall.

They pulled away for a second to breathe and a smile crept up on her face, Dmitry planted another kiss on her but she pulled away.

"Dima, my er- my dress-"

He raised his eyebrow at her, trying to figure out what she was implying, he hoped it was the first thought in his mind.

"It's going to rip if we stay like this and I keep it on," she giggled slightly and had turned scarlet.

"Oh, well you wouldn't want to rip such a pretty dress would you?" She giggled again and shook her head, "well, if you wouldn't mind," he grabbed the zipper on the back of her dress and started to undo it. She giggled again before she placed her hand on his face and began to kiss him again.

Once Dmitry had unzipped her dress he grabbed one of her legs from behind his back and attempted to stop her straddling around him.

She pulled away from kissing him.

"What are you doing?"

"Anya if you want to take this dress off you're going to have to get off me for a second," she giggled and removed her legs from being wrapped around him letting him place her on the floor. She removed her arms from the dress and let it fall down her body. Dmitry looked her up and down and smiled before he grabbed her waist and pulled her into a kiss. It was desperate and rough and the intensity was growing.

She moved her hands to the top of his shirt and she slowly started to unbutton his shirt, struggling at first, not being able to see what she was doing, but soon quickly enough manage to undo all his buttons, slipping his shirt off of him.

He continued to kiss her, and then leant her back, making her fall on the bed, she started to giggle as he climbed on top of her and started to kiss down her neck. A small moan escaped her lips and she felt the touch of his kisses turn into a smile.

He reconnected their lips, biting her bottom lip and slipping his tongue between her lips which had parted. Their tongues connected, dancing around together.

He placed his hand on her bare stomach and could feel the goosebumps on her cold skin. He was slightly concerned because he could tell she was cold but he didn't want to ruin the moment.

As they continued to kiss he felt Anya's hand around his waist, undoing his trousers and then slipping them down his legs, he rolled off her so he could take his trousers off properly and before he could make his way back on top of her, her lips were on his and she had climbed on top of him, straddling around his waist again.

Dmitry wrapped his arms around her, pulling them both up so they were now sat, the whole time not disconnecting their lips for a second.

When he reached for the strap of her brassiere he felt tense up slightly at his touch, he pulled away from their kiss, removing his hands and placing them on her waist instead.

"Anya, are you okay?" She nodded but he could tell she wasn't okay, "Anya-" she cut him off with a kiss but he pulled away, "no Anya, if you're not okay with this we'll stop, you've tensed up, and not in a good way."

"Dima-" she paused for a second, "it's my first-" before she could finish her sentence he brushed his lips against his, moving his hand to stroke her face.

"If you want me to stop at any time, if it hurts, I'll stop, if you want," a small nod came from her.

"I want to."

With full force he pressed his lips on her, quickly removing her brassiere, throwing it on the floor and rolling her over so he was towering over her again.

He began to kiss down her neck, taking her skin in his mouth, sucking on it as she let out a moan, biting a little as he pulled away, knowing there would be a mark as he continued to kiss down her collar to her breasts. He cupped one in his hand, massaging and squeezing with his hand as she continued to moan his name, as he placed little kisses on the other until he got to her erect nipple which he took between his lips, sucking on it and brushing his tongue against it.

She was enjoying this and he could tell.

He repeated the action on her other nipple, as well as moving his hand to massage her other breast, stroking his finger over her hard nipple, squeezing her breast as he did.

He began to kiss down her bare, pale stomach, kissing until he reached the band of her underskirt. He looked up to her, for her approval for him to remove it and she nodded, knowing what he was asking without him saying the words.

As he removed her underskirt he placed his hand on her soaking thigh, a smile grew on his mouth. He kissed over her hips, to her bare skin above his clip. He was surprised at the lack of hair, but she was a royal, they kept themselves groomed.

He began to kiss her area, going for her clit when he felt her hand lift his head.

"Don't-" she slipped between her hyperventilating, but he understood and began to kiss back up her body, reconnecting their lips, biting them as he did.

He felt her hands slide to the waistband of his underwear, he felt the cold air against his cock as she pulled them down. He could see her eyes look down and she giggled, he rolled his eyes before he planted his lips on hers.

"If you want me to stop at all-"

"If you're gonna fuck me just do it!" He laughed at the use of her explicit language, not ever expecting to hear those words from a Grand Duchess.

He eased himself inside of her, guiding himself in, inch by inch, they moaned in unison together, then she let out a scream of his name, digging her nails into his bare skin.

Their bodies, now connected, pressed against each other, her back arched as he slid himself deeper inside of her, banging their hips together in an awkward motion. He thrust himself as far as he could, leaving her to scream out his name in delight, moving her hand to pull his hair as he moved his hand to the back of her neck, getting his hand tangled between her long bronze locks.

She moved one of her legs, wrapping it around him, making the motion slightly easier for him as he continued to grind against her, her hips moving in time with his motions, their breathing getting heavier, raspier as they continued on. 

The stutter of his name on her lips resulted in him quickening the motions, their thrusts matching each other. She let out a loud moan of his name as she felt her climax coming, she gripped her nails into his skin once again, pressing her lips to his, moans escaping her lips as their tongues connected once again. 

He could feel her walls tightening against him, she let out a cry of his name as she reached her climax, him following seconds after, arching, crying her name in response as he released himself inside of her.

As their hurried breathing turned into panting as they tried to catch their breath, Dmitry removed himself from inside of her and collapsed by her side. She moved herself closer to them so their bodies were touching again, not wanting to lose the warmth of his body against hers.

She rolled over so she was now looking at him, despite the events that had just occurred, her eyes showed purity and innocence and he loved that about her.

"That was-"

"I know," he responded finishing her sentence, rubbing his hand up and down her silky smooth skin. 

She kissed his nose letting out a small giggle as she did as she then placed a small kiss on his lips.

"Thank you, Dima."

"Anything for my princess," he smiled as she pushed him slightly.

"So," she let out, prolonging the word, he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Is that a request for a round two?"

\---

A few hours later, after having freshened themselves up, Dmitry decided he was going to take her out, to get her that dress he had seen, but he wasn't going to tell her that.

They were now out on the streets of Paris and she gripped onto his hand, holding him close. Several people gave her funny looks, they knew who she was and it was known to many about her previous arrangements with Gleb. It was crazy to think how much had changed in a day.

Dmitry got to the little boutique he had seen the blue dress in the day before.

"Wait here," he said, kissing her forehead as he slipped into the shop.

She sat on the bench next to the boutique, observing the people in Paris, the city of lovers, she didn't notice Dmitry had left the shop and also slipped into the bakery next door.

When he came back to her he was carrying to boxes, she looked at him with curiosity, "you can look at them when we get back to the palace," he gave her his charming smile, teasing her, she went to speak in protest but he cut her off with a kiss.

"How much of Paris did you see yesterday, Dima?"

"Erm," he turned and looked to the hill he had walk- ran down yesterday, "That hill, this street, the bridge, the Neva Club and the palace."

"Is that it?" She seemed almost shocked.

"I wanted to find you, then I heard about Gleb and all I wanted was a drink."

"How did you know which palace to come to?"

"I didn't, I remembered you telling me about the bridge," she smiled and her eyes filled with tears as she recalled the memory of 8-year-old Anya leaving a 10-year-old Dima. "I hoped you'd be there-"

"And I wasn't-" she could see how her mood had completely changed in a split second. He placed his free hand on the bottom of her chin, lifting her face so she was looking him directly in the eyes.

"It doesn't matter because we're together now," she smiled at the slight cheesiness of his words as he lowered himself to kiss her lips again.

"I'm never going to get tired of doing that," she smiled as she took his hand and started pulling him down the street. "Where are we going?"

"To the Palace, I want to know what's in those boxes," she giggled as she pulled him along.

Being considerably stronger than her he managed to pull her close and he slipped his arm around her waist as they strolled back through the streets of Paris. 

He looked up at the sky as a memory waved across him.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺.

A small smile crept upon his face as he remembered the day of the parade, how he saw a girl so beautiful, and here she was, all his.

\---

When they entered the palace they were greeted by three sisters, all with shining grins on their faces. Anya rolled her eyes as she grabbed his hand, and pulling him towards the stairs, pushing past and ignoring her sisters.

She was still the same old Anastasia.

"Nastya-" he heard one of her sisters called, believing it was Maria but he wasn't sure.

"Later! I have presents!" She continued to pull him towards her bedroom, or was it their bedroom now, he didn't know, he could tell she was excited.

"Who said they were for you?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned around to look at him, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Dmitry," her tone of voice had changed.

"Hey, I'm kidding," he tired his best to put his hands up in surrender, failing as he almost dropped both boxes on the floor.

She opened the door to her - their? - room and ran over to the king size bed which was against the back wall going into the centre of the room. She sat down on it, bouncing up and down like an excited small child.

He closed the door and walked over to her, smiling at how excited she looked, she was glowing, whether that was from the sex earlier or just because she was excited he didn't know. But it made her look even more beautiful than normal.

"Big box or little box first?"

"Little box!"

He passed her the small box and when she opened it she let out a small squeal of delight.

"You remembered?"

"How could I have forgotten?"

He thought back to the morning before she had left for Paris, they promised each other so many times that day they would see each other, they would be in Paris together. She mentioned how excited she was to try real French macarons and he said he would buy her them until she turned into one herself, being the children they were at the time that was their logic.

"Oh Dima, thank you!"

"How many times are you going to say thank you to me today?" he winked at her as he spoke the words to her and she giggled.

"Depends, how many more times do you intend on pleasing me?"

He took that as a challenging, removing the box of macarons from her hand, kissing her forcefully, making her fall back so he was on top of her on the bed. She placed her hand on his chest.

"Dima-" she giggled slightly "can I open the other present?" he rolled his eyes and pulled her up, getting off her and going to get the slightly larger box.

He placed it on her lap and watched her as she opened it.

"Dima it's-" he smiled as she placed a kiss on his cheek, "thank you."

She quickly leapt off the bed and turned so she was facing away from Dmitry, still next to the bed. She moved her hair to the side.

"Dima would you?" He knew full well she could unzip her dress by herself, but he was happy to do it anyway. 

Her dress slipped down her body, and Dmitry got to see her curves that hid under her dress all over again. Her figure was perfect, her breasts being the perfect size for her body, her hips and waist formed an hourglass shape and he couldn't look beyond how beautiful she looked.

He pulled her close, kissing her neck and then spinning her to kiss her lips.

"Dima, my family are-" he nodded, understanding what she meant. They were going to need their own place, her other sisters did, and they only came home occasionally. "I'll speak to Nana, we'll get our own place, then we can, whenever we want." He smiled at the thought. 

"Now let me put this dress on, I'm about to have one hundred and one questions with Olga, Tatiana and Maria," his eyes opened wide with fear, she slipped on the dress and then turned around so he could do the buttons up for her "don't worry, you won't be there, you'll be having one hundred and one questions with Alyosha instead," she kissed him quickly and ran out the room, he swiftly chased after her, grabbing her and ticking her slightly, making her scream with laughter at the top of the stairs, resulting in her three sisters turn their heads. Alexei was standing there as well.

"Well, that's our first question answered," Maria giggled.

Anya took Dmitry's hand and they walked down the stairs. Olga was the first to notice the ring sitting on her finger.

"Is that Mama's ring-", Anya turned scarlet as Tatiana ran over and lifted her hand to examine the ring.

"It- it is," you could hear the heartbreak in her voice, she turned to Dmitry, "did- did she give you this?" he nodded.

He then remembered the diamonds he still had, "I- I have a few of her diamonds left, if each of you wants one? One of them is slightly chipped but-"

"Why do you have Mama's diamonds?" There was a small pause, Dmitry didn't really want to tell Alexandra's children the words she had said to him. How she told him she knew her fate. Those were words he would keep to himself, eventually a small "Oh," escaped Alexei's mouth as realisation hit them all.

\---

The evening meal was full of conversation. Mainly catching up with Dmitry over what had happened over the past few years.

He couldn't help but feel solemn though, he tried to hide it, but Anya had noticed and she frequently would squeeze his hand for reassurance under the table, although she didn't know what she was reassuring him of.

They finished their meal and she took him to the side.

"Dima, what's wrong?" He brushed her off telling her it was nothing but she wouldn't accept it.

"Come on, let's go to the bridge again."

As he walked out into the fresh air, he felt slightly calmer, Anya wrapped both her arms around just one of his as she walked by his side towards the bridge.

They walked in silently towards the edge of the bridge, looking over the Sein. She was worried about him, he had been fine until they were sat eating their meal.

"Dima why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

He didn't answer her for a second, he continued to look out over the river.

"Six years ago, we were all sat, eating a meal in the Alexander Palace, it was the last moment of what became our normality. We still had our belongings and the wealth, your family were still royals. But, after we finished the meal- that's- that's when they took us to Tobolsk. So many people managed to flee, Lily and Vlad being among those, they had left that morning actually. But six years ago today was the day I realised what was actually happening. I didn't know until that moment. We were only allowed to speak in Russian from that point. Yes, we had been imprisoned in the Alexander Palace, but we weren't real prisoners until Tobolosk." 

She looked up at him as tears slowly fell down his face.

"Dmitry I-"

"Anya, you don't need to say anything. Every year since something bad has always happened this day. They weren't always major things, I lost a job once, had to flee a firing squad another day, it varied each year. But this, this is the first year something good has happened," he turned and looked to Anya, "thank you for fixing this day for me."

She reached up to his face, stepping onto her tiptoes and kissed him. She pulled away and wrapped her arms around him. They looked over the Sein again as the sun set over the river, as shadows fell around them, looking over the shimmering view. 

After their little moment on the bridge, they went for a small walk around Paris, Anya holding on to Dmitry's arm tight, placing little kisses on his arm every so often.

She had her Dima back and she didn't plan on letting him go. A promise is a promise after all, whether you make it when you're eight or twenty-three.

\---

July had come and Dmitry was surprised at how his nightmares were yet to haunt him. But as it drew nearer to the anniversary he knew they were coming.

They had finally moved into their own Palace, it was only a small one, they had no need for a large one, and Anya had requested only the minimum amount of servants. She liked being domestic and it showed.

Dmitry walked into their bedroom and saw Anya standing over the balcony. He knew the thoughts going through her head right now, he had the same in his mind. They were the same as Olga's and Tatiana's and Maria's and Alexei's as well. All of them dreading the day that was only a few short days away.

He wrapped his arms around her as she stood in her white nightdress, her hair flowing down her back.

"Come to bed."

"I don't feel like-"

"To sleep," she turned and faced him, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "Hey, we'll go through it together," she placed her head on his chest as he pulled her into an embrace, kissing her forehead, "come on, you need to sleep." 

They got into bed and Anya placed herself closer to Dmitry than she usually would, if that was possible, her head was buried into his neck and her arms wrapped around him. He followed her motions, wrapping his arms around her. They both fell asleep rather quickly that night.

𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨.

Dmitry awoke with a gasp, sitting up rather quickly, throwing the covers and running to the other side of the room, trying to get away from the nightmares he could never escape. He leaned against the floor and sunk to the floor as the tears fell down his face.

They were back.

He saw their faces again and although he wasn't there, he saw the gun firing. He saw them collapse in front of him, they were just too out of reach for him to save.

When Anya awoke she noticed half the bed was empty. The second thing she noticed was the darkness of the room, it wasn't yet morning. The final thing she noticed was the sounds of sobs coming from the corner of the room.

She ran out of bed and instantly ran to Dmitry's side and pulled him close as he continued to sob.

He didn't need to tell her what the nightmare was for her to know.

"Dima," he didn't respond, "Dima," again he didn't, "Dima look at me," when he finally looked at her, she saw a man broken beyond repair, "You're safe Dima," she continued to whisper into his ear.

"Anya they-"

"You don't have to tell me, I know, it's okay," she placed a kiss on his forehead, "Come to bed."

He walked back to bed with her, this time, she placed his head on her breast, and she held him close, he was still crying. Not just because of the nightmares, but because of the memories.

"Anya-"

Almost reading his mind she answered his question before he even spoke it. 

"I'm never leaving Dima. Never."


	4. Chapter 4

Dmitry looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting the collar of his jacket that resembled the one he wore all those years ago at the Winter Ball. The difference, this one was a shade of navy blue with red decoration, instead of the Tsar's white and gold. It all still felt weird though, as if he didn’t belong. He was wearing an outfit matching one of the Tsar's and he was no Tsar.

"Mitya, you look fine," Alexei said joining him in the room, his outfit resembled that of Dmitry's, as did Vlad's when he also joined them in the room.

"There's nothing to be worried about Dmitry."

"I'm fine, I'm just not used to all this Catholic stuff, I grew up on Russian Orthodox, it's weird." He gave himself one more look in the mirror, adjusting his collar before turning to look at Vlad and Alexei. Taking a deep breath he let out a smile, "right, let's go!"

\---

Anya stood in her room, looking at herself in the mirror.

This was actually happening.

Her sisters looked beautiful, all three of them, they had floor-length pale pink dresses on, the same colour as they would've worn to balls if they had stayed in Russia. Their dresses were simple, just the plain colour and small straps going over their shoulders, nothing too extravagant.

Her dress was also very basic, she only wanted a small service. Only close friends and family, distant relatives and other friends and multiple other royals would be arriving for the reception that evening.

Her dress was white, falling to the floor, trailing behind her slightly. It had a plain design, and the straps instead of going over her shoulders went by the side of her arms.

She pulled the dress up slightly as a tear fell down her face, Maria instantly ran to her side realising her sister was upset. Placing her hands onto her sister's shoulders she pulled her close.

"What's wrong?"

"I wish they were here," another tear fell down her face and she went to wipe it away, sniffling as she did.

"They will be there, they will be watching the entire time, I promise."

\---

Dmitry was stood by the altar, waving at familiar faces as he stood, waiting, his hands shaking, heart racing and palms sweating. As excited as he was, he was still anticipant.

He was marrying a Grand Duchess.

As he looked around he couldn't help but feel sad, Alexandra and Nicholas knew they were never going to see this day. They never saw any of their children's weddings, he was just glad he had their blessings.

He felt a hand on his shoulder which took him back slightly, not knowing who it was, but when he turned, a smile appeared on his face and his eyes filled with tears. 

A nod from the man and a proud smile was all he needed for a tear to slip out of his eye. As the man walked past him to walk down the stairs he saw her there as well, it was very rare he saw her smile, but as her husband joined her and walked her to the back of the aisle, her smile was wide.

"They're here, aren't they?" He turned from looking at the back of the church to Alexei, he let out a small nod, not being able to speak knowing sobs would escape if they did. They shared a quick hug before Alexei turned to look at the back of the church, seeing them as well.

Everyone began to start taking their seats and Dmitry could feel the butterflies in his stomach, he looked to the back of the church, seeking the man he saw as a father figure, receiving a reassuring smile.

All the family he needed was here.

The music started and the three girls all walked in, looking beautiful in their dresses, holding some purple flowers, he didn't know what because Marie had chosen them, but they were amazing.

Then she walked in, arm in arm with her nana. Her face was covered by a veil, but he could still see her beauty.

She joined him at the altar after receiving a kiss on her cheek from her nana, he removed the veil covering her face, smiling down at her.

"You're beautiful," he let out a small whisper, tears slipping down his face. She reached her hand out to him, rubbing it slightly. "They're here."

"Who-" it took her a second to realise but as soon as she did she snapped her head, looking back down the aisle. 

There they were, her mama and papa were watching her. Standing in the church with them. A small gasp escaped her lips and she turned back to face Dmitry, he wiped away the tears that began to fall down her face.

He gave her a small smile, and she smiled back at him. Everyone they loved was here.

"We are gathered here on this beautiful day to witness the union of Dmitry Victor Suyadev and Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanov in holy matrimony," hearing his middle name made her gasp quietly, she had never heard his middle name before and Victor Suyadev sounded so familiar.

The whole time the priest was talking, addressing the two of them, and the rest of the church, Dmitry couldn't help but take his eyes off of Anya. She had her hair down, with a braid across her head, just how he loved it. There was only a little makeup on her face, but nothing hid the freckles sprinkled around her nose and he was constantly lost in the endless sea that could be seen in her eyes. 

"I believe you have both written your own vows, Dmitry when you're ready, you may begin," he looked down to her smiled taking a deep breath.

"Anya," she looked back up at him, a smile growing on her face, and a small giggle, every time she giggled he fell more in love with her.

"The first time I saw you, you were eight and I was ten, and you were in the parade in Petersburg, in your lovely pink dress, and you looked so proud and serene and once the carriage left I felt empty inside, knowing I'd never get as close as I did to you that day ever again. But then, a few weeks later, one cold December morning, I was sitting in Catherine Park and this girl came up to me and refused to leave me alone until I said I would go to the Palace with her," she giggled, "so, I agreed to go back with her and then being the stubborn person she was, and still is, she demanded I be allowed to stay until it had at least warmed up. Fortunately, her father agreed, and I met my best friend. In the short time we had together in the palace I knew I wanted you in my life forever, but being ten, I wasn't sure in what way. 

And then at the Winter Ball, you asked me if you thought we would get married, as much as I loved the thought it seemed too unrealistic to me, I still find it hard to believe. And then you left for Paris and after you left I cried," he snicked slightly, remembering, "I cried a lot, and I would constantly be playing the music box, I'm sure it began to annoy your mother. But I promised you I would visit you in Paris and I was determined it would happen. 

Then everything in Russia went wrong, they knew, and because they knew what was coming, your father made me realise I was in love with you and gave me permission to marry you as soon as I got to Paris, and your mother made sure to tell me I had her blessing twice," he looked down to his feet, then to the back of the church where he saw Alexandra and Nicholas standing, he missed them so much.

"After everything happened I made my way to Paris, having this ridiculous thought that you might have waited for me, not knowing what news had spread over here, and when I found out you were with someone else I remember getting that empty feeling, like from the parade. Seeing you at the Neva Club and you not recognising who I was, that pretty much broke me. But the following day, the whole world seemed to flip and I went from one of the worst days in my life to the best days, because I got you back. Every day since then, I've fallen in love with you more, every day I find something about you I never noticed and it makes me love you more. I cannot wait for our future, and I can't wait to fall in love with you even more, because every day I learn that there's a way to love you more than I already do."

He wiped the tears that had welled up in his eyes and wiped the ones that were streaming down her face. 

"Anastasia, when you're ready, you may begin."

She took a deep breath, letting out a little sigh, "Dima, finding you in the park, bringing you to the palace was the best decision I ever made in my entire life. Crazy that a decision a stubborn eight-year-old made changed both our lives forever. I remember I almost never left your side, Mama would get so annoyed with me because almost everything I did I made sure you were with me. You were always around when I was upset and the day I was most upset, when Alexei got hurt, you asked me to the Winter Ball and I remember feeling like the happiest girl alive.

Then at the Winter Ball, I asked you if one day we would get married, I was eight and didn't fully understand the marriage concept, but from what I understood, I knew, even then, that I wanted to marry you. Leaving you when I went to Paris was so hard, I never wanted to let go of you, and I missed you so much, waiting for the day you would come when you would follow through with the promise. I loved writing letters to you, I'd cry after reading every single one, and it got so hard at sometimes, I thought you would never come. 

Then we got the news, about what had happened." She took a deep breath, clearly struggling with her words, she was starting to get choked up, "and I thought you were dead," the tears fell down her face, "I refused to leave my room, I didn't speak to anyone, barely ate any food, I didn't want to live not knowing I wasn't going to see you again," he looked at her with a fear in his eyes, she had never told him this, she had never told him how upset she was, he never knew she didn't want to be alive if he wasn't, "and it's a good job that Vlad spoke some sense in me, told me you would've wanted me to have a happy life." She looked at him with a small smile.

"Then I was introduced to Gleb, interesting man, never really enjoyed his presence, but, if I had never had met him, I wouldn't have been at the Neva Club and, sorry Nana, but I wouldn't have been drunk enough to make you stay with me that night. Then when the whole affair happened the next morning and you called me Anya, I just couldn't believe it, but you were there. Then you took me to my Grandfather's bridge and I had you back in my life, and I felt as happy as when you asked me to the Winter Ball.

As you said, every day since then I have fallen more in love with you than I ever believed I could. I can't wait for our future and I can't wait to start a family with you and grow old with you. I am never going to leave your side, you're stuck with me forever now, but I'm stuck with you as well, and I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else. Wouldn't want my life with anyone else. I love you so much."

They were both crying when they exchanged their rings, speaking the words, promising to love each other always and to never leave each other. The wedding bands were simple and plain but made of silver, to match the engagement ring Dmitry had given Anya, the ring from her mama. 

“Dmitry and Anastasia, you have pledged your faith to each other in the company of your family and friends. By the power vested in me by the Catholic church, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Dmitry, you may now kiss your bride.”

Dmitry smiled, placing his lips against hers, she leaned into the kiss. The world fell silent at that moment, as if they were the only two people in the room. The butterflies that had previously been in his stomach left, there was no reason for him to ever be nervous, he had her and he always had and always would. 

As they kissed they could each taste each other’s tears that had fell down their face during the ceremony, but other than that, the kiss was warm, full of love, full of reassurance and full of love. 

They pulled away, smiling at each, there were tears falling down her eyes as she looked up to Dmitry, he whispered the words ‘I love you’ to her quietly. 

“For the first time, I am proud to present to you, Mr and Mrs Suyadev,” Dmitry took her arm as they turned to walk down the aisle, followed my Anya’s sisters and brother, then Vlad and Lily, her nana at the back. 

They stopped when they got to the end of the aisle. Standing directly in front of her parents. 

“They’re proud of you Anya,” she grabbed his arm pulling herself closer to him and then gave a small bow to her parents before they walked out of the church. 

\- - - 

Vlad had just given the last toast and Dmitry and Anya were now stood in the centre of the room, having their first dance. 

Her head was rested on his shoulder as they swayed slightly side to side, he would spin her regularly, but they didn’t move very much. She was awfully quiet. 

He looked down to his wife, feeling worried, knowing something was wrong, but he wouldn’t address it until they were sat down, feeling if he did she would cry. 

Once the music was finished they went to take their seats as family and friends all got up to dance. He pulled her onto his lap before she could sit in her chair. 

She had changed into a different white dress now, this was still floor length, but it didn’t flow out at the bottom as much as the other, and this dress had a V neck, with straps going down the top of her arm. 

“What’s wrong?” He whispered so no one else could hear, it wasn’t as if anyone else was sitting near them, people had begun to mingle, dance and drink. 

“I miss them Dima,” she rested her head onto his shoulder as she started to sob, she regularly had moments like this, they both did, where they would stare into space, occasionally cry, but he had never seen her like this before. 

His arm wrapped around her waist and he started to brush his hand against her waist. 

“They’re always going to be watching, they’ll always be around.”

”It’s not the same Dima, they’ve missed everything.”

He didn’t know how to respond so he just pulled her closer, placing a small kiss on her lips. He tapped her telling her to get off his lap which resulted in her giving him a questioning look. 

“I’m getting you a drink. You need one.”

Dmitry got up and walked over to the bar, ordering himself and Anya a drink, once he had the drink he turned and saw Vlad approaching him, a smile across his face. 

“Congratulations young man!”

”Thank you, Vlad.”

”Is she okay, she looks a bit solemn.”

”She’s missing them, Alexandra and Nicholas.”

”That’s not surprising, you know how the other three were on their wedding days," he took a quick glance over to Anya who was now surrounded by people of who neither of them recognised. "You feel out of place don't you?"

"Always have, always will. Maybe if- maybe if it hadn't happened they might have married her off to some prince-" Vlad started to shake his head and then cut him off.

"You and I both know she never would have let that happen, you love each other Dmitry, don't think about what might have been, look at what you've got. I know you miss them, we all do, I can't imagine anyone missing them any more than you or the girls," Vlad took a pause, as if he was debating what he was about to say, "Nicholas never cared about titles when it came to marriage."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe now isn't the-" Dmitry gave him a look and Vlad took a deep breath, "there was another reason Nicholas took you in, he recognised your face. Said you were almost the spitting image of your father. Before Lily and I left for France, I asked him if we could take you with us, take you to the others in Paris, he refused."

"Yes, I know that, what are you trying to say?"

"He told me how guilty he felt, he knew what he did was wrong the moment he had done it, when you showed up at the palace, with no family, I remember Nicholas telling me how he regretted his actions, he left a boy an orphan. He didn't let you go to Paris because he wanted to make up for the father figure he had taken from you, he saw you as his son Mitya. That's why no title would have ever got in the way of your marriage with your dear Anastasia. He always knew from that moment she brought you to the Palace." Dmitry looked at the man, slightly shocked by the words leaving his mouth. "He loved you and wanted you to be happy," he glanced over to Anastasia who was on her own again, looking over to the two of them talking, "go back to her, I've kept you away from her too long.

Dmitry walked back over to Anya sitting next to her as he placed their drinks on the table and then pulled her back onto his lap, giving her a kiss as he did.

"Dima-"

"Yes?"

"How come you never told me your middle name?" Crap. That was the only thought that came to his head.

"I guess it never came up."

"Why Victor?"

"Erm, it was my father's name," he wanted anything but to have this conversation now. Especially because of his previous conversation with Vlad, "Shall we go dance with your sisters."

"Victor Suyadev," she whispered quietly before giving a little gasp. "He-he worked in the palace." 

"Anya, come on let's dance."

"How did he die Dima?"

"I don't want to talk about this now."

"Dima-" her voice wasn't as bubbly as it usually was.

"Anya, I love you, and I really do not want to spend our wedding day talking about this, please? Let's go dance."

Once they were up and dancing, the thought had quickly left Anya's mind, and the joined the celebration, dancing, singing, drink, having a nice time, but the thought still lingered in the back of Dmitry's, even as it got late. Yes, he had a new family now, but Anya still knew very little about his life before she had found him, she knew his father, for the short time he worked in the palace, but she knew nothing of his mother or his-

"Dima," she interrupted thoughts, coming over to him very giggly and attempting to give him a kiss. Her breath smelt of vodka, he rolled his eyes, glad he hadn't drunk as much as she had that night.

"Someone's a bit giggly," he laughed as he placed his lips against hers, only for her to grab onto his waistcoat pulling him closer and then her biting his lip. He pulled away, receiving a pout from her and he knew her full intentions almost immediately. "Not here Anya."

"Then let's go to bed," she grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the party and trying to take him out of the ballroom.

"Anya-"

"Yes, Dima?" Her voice was full on innocence and she turned the pitch of her voice up, she turned to face him, pulling a slight pout and making puppy dog eyes at him. She knew exactly what she wanted and she was going to get it. He found it hard to resist her.

"Are you sure you want to leave now? It's still kind of early," she walked back over to him, pressing her lips against his, biting on his lips and slipping her tongue into his mouth.

He moved his hand to her waist, making them closer, but she quickly pulled away and winked at him.

"Anya-"

"Yes?" She was pulling the same face again. He pressed his lips against hers, only a small kiss this time before he grabbed her hand and led her out of the ballroom.

Once they were out of sight of everyone, Dmitry turned back to Anya looking down at her, a smile was growing on her face and then he captured her lips with his, desperation growing within him, finding the nearest wall and pushing her up against it. He moved one of his hands to her hip, gripping onto her tight as she wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning into him as they continued to kiss.

Between their kisses, Anya started to mumble slightly but he couldn't figure out what she was saying exactly so he pulled away.

"Upstairs." 

He smiled down at her and picked her bridal style, making her scream and giggle, carrying her up the stairs to the room they once shared when they lived in her nana's palace.

He opened the door with a slight difficulty, which made Anya laugh, once he managed to open it he kicked it shut with his foot and walked over to the king size bed, placing Anya on it.

He had changed into a suit and tie for the reception so he quickly took his jacket off and then went to undo his tie, but before he could Anya grabbed it and pulled him close.

She was sat up on the bed now, so it was easier for her to reach him, she forced her lips against his and moved her hands to undo his tie, they'd gotten pretty good at taking each other's clothes off without being able to see what they were doing, they'd had lots of practice, so this was quite a quick task for Anya.

She then reached for his belt, undoing it and then pulling his trousers down, he slipped his shoes off quickly as he stepped out of his trousers and then she pulled him on top of her.

"I've still got to take your dress off."

"I don't care, kiss me."

That's what he did, he started with her lips, then he started to kiss down her neck, leaving the occasional love bite. He then kissed down the v-neck of her dress, kissing along the top of her breasts, noticing she wasn't wearing a bra which made him smile as he continued to kiss her.

As he kissed her she began to unbutton his shirt, throwing it over to the corner of the room once she had removed it from him. He pulled her off the bed slightly, as he began to unzip her dress, he pulled it all the way to her lower back as he then removed himself from on top of her, letting her slip out of the dress.

He pulled her back onto the bed, placing himself on top of her once again, kissing her everywhere as they removed each other's underwear. One of his hands was pressed against her thigh, while the other was resting on the bed, supporting him so he wouldn't crush her.

He placed his lips against her again, as their naked bodies pressed against each other before he guided himself inside of her, both of letting out a moan of delight. Their movement almost instantly turned into a perfect rhythm as the moved their hips together in time. 

Air was forced from their longs with every movement each of them made, knowing each other's weaknesses by heart now there was a constant teasing between each of them. Anya would run her hand through Dmitry's hair, digging her nails into his skin, occasionally leaving a love bite. Dmitry would kiss her breasts, play with her hair, place his hand on her thigh and caress her stomach.

She arched her body closer towards him with every movement he made, wanting him to move deeper inside of her. He delved deeper into her with each rhythmic push, their moans getting louder and turning to screams of each other's names.

She dug her nails into his skin, arching her back and he pulled on her hair as they reached their climax, almost seconds apart from each other.

He removed himself from her and pulled her into a close embrace as they caught their breath, only for her to start kissing him all over again.

They were going to spoil each other that night.

\---  
They'd travelled to Italy for their honeymoon, the majority of it was either spent on the beach or in bed, more often than not they spent the entire day in bed.

After a week and a half away, Anya began throwing up and Dmitry grew worried, cutting their honeymoon short and making them return to Paris.

They'd been back a week now and Anya was still being sick, Dmitry was completely oblivious but she had her ideas.

Dmitry was growing more worried, every morning she wasn't by his side when he had woken up, always in the bathroom, of course it hadn't crossed his mind, he didn't know things like that.

Dmitry pulled himself out of bed and headed to the kitchen where he poured a glass of water and then headed to the bathroom where he found Anya in tears. She never usually cried when she was sick so he very quickly dropped to the floor and pulled her onto his lap, kissing her forehead pulling her into an embrace.

"Hey, don't cry, it's okay," she sobbed into his chest and his concerns grew, "Anya, what's wrong?"

"I-er-"

"Anya?" She wiped her tears away and the stood up pulling him up with her.

"Erm-" she took a deep breath, "okay I need to tell you something."

"Anya, you're worrying me, are you okay?" She gave him a small nod.

"Dmitry," he could hear the shaking in her voice, it was quite evident she was nervous about telling him, and she never called him Dmitry, not even when she was mad at him, it was always either Mitya or Dima. She took another deep breath and looked down at her feet, they'd left the bathroom now and were back in their room. "Dima, I think I'm pregnant." 

She looked at him as she finished her sentence and he stood there staring at her blankly, not moving or making a sound.

"Dima?"

"A-Are you sure?"

She gave him a small nod and then a small smile, "I mean, I think so, the sickness, and I've missed this month," he watched her as she went bright red talking about that.

"So-so you're pregnant?" You could hear the shake in his voice.

She gave him a small nod as the tears began to fall down her face.

"Anya, I," he moved closer to her and the picked her up and spun her around gently, he then placed on the floor and kissed her passionately, he moved his hands to her stomach and smiled, "I love you." 

"So you're happy?"

"Of course I am Anya, why wouldn't I be?"

"I-I don't know," she started to cry and he pulled her into a close embrace.

\---

Several weeks had passed, and although Anya's sickness had stopped, her insecurities and emotions had not.

Dmitry tried his best, but it wasn't always enough, she'd yell at him one second, then be crying to him, then laughing and smiling as if nothing happened, then she would be mad with him for some reason he couldn' figure out, then she would be mad because he didn't know why she was mad.

He spent almost every minute running around after Anya, making sure she was okay at all times, he was very stressed about her well-being and she found it extremely cute, so it wasn't very often she complained about it. 

But he needed a break every now and again, she'd make him lie in bed with her while she had a nap, she'd always wake up to him playing with her hair and it all seemed so perfect.

Which was what was happening now.

Dmitry was sat against the back of the bed, his leg stretched out, with Anya leaning against his chest. She was finding it difficult to sleep so he was grateful for times like this when she slept peacefully as he ran his hands through her hair.

She was beginning to stir so he knew she would be waking up, he placed a kiss on her forehead as she started to flutter her eyes open.

She moved her hand to her stomach and then grabbed his hand.

"Dima," her voice was soft but clearly full of excitement, "I can feel her moving," he could hear the smile on her face as he placed his hand on her stomach and felt tiny kicks, making him smile and give her a kiss.

"So, it's a her then?"

"I think so, I don't actually know though, but I feel like she's a girl." She went to sit herself up but instead grabbed Dmitry's letting out a cry in pain and squeezing onto his hand very tight. "D-Dima."

His attention turned to her almost immediately, pulling her closer to him, as soon as the pain passed she began to cry.

"Dima, you might have to phone for Olga, Maria and Tatiana," he pulled a confused face, "I really hope it's not the case but someone might want to be joining us a little early."

Dmitry's face turned to a shock of horror which made Anya laugh.

"I'm okay Dima, I'm fine, you don't need to worry, I just need my sisters just in case," she gave him a reassuring smile as he got up to go and phone her sisters to come to their palace, he was nervous for her. He didn't know much about pregnancy, not very men did but surely if the baby was coming early there was something wrong?

It was during his final phone call to Maria he heard her screaming in pain again.

"Maria, just come quickly, she's in pain," he hung up the phone and ran back to the bedroom to where Anya was crying in pain on their bed, "What do I do?"

"Just come hold my hand," she managed to make out between her cries, so that's what he did. He sat on the bed next to her and held her hand as he watched her cry in pain, he wanted it to stop, wanted to take the pain away from her but he knew that wasn't how it worked.

The pain left after a minute or so and she loosened her grip on his hand but she still held on tight to his hand.

"Dima, come and lie down again, please," he moved closer to her and pulled her close, pulling her into an embrace. She adjusted herself so she was slightly more comfortable, though that wasn't really possible. He wrapped his arm around her so she was leaning on him and he started playing with her again, placing little kisses on her forehead.

The pain started again and she began to cry, burying her face into Dmitry's chest, gripping onto him tight, "Don't go."

"I won't," he lied, he knew he wasn't allowed in the room.

He kissed her forehead and then Olga and Tatiana burst through the door, disturbing them.

"Dmitry, out," Olga sounded exactly like her mother when she spoke the words that he began to move but Anya wouldn't let him.

"No," she was stubborn and pulled him back towards her.

"Anastasia he isn't-"

"Am I having the baby yet? No. So he can stay, and he will stay," she wasn't going to let her older sister win this and Dmitry threw his hands up in a surrender to Olga who simply just rolled her eyes. 

"Fine, but-"

"Yes, I'll go, I know you've already told me this," Dmitry sat back on the bed next to Anya, holding her hand.

"Please, stay the entire time," she whispered quietly so only he could hear.

"You know I'm not allowed, the midwife won't let me, and I don't want to get into an argument with either of your sisters."

"You'll come back in straight away though?"

"I promise," he placed his lips on hers but pulled away when she began to cry in pain, "maybe I should go now, Anya-"

"That's probably best Dmitry," he heard Maria speak as she entered the room. 

"No, Dima, please-"

"Hey, I'll just be outside, and then I'll be back in straight away," she gave a weak nod, he gave her a quick kiss, "I love you."

"I love you-" she cried in pain again.

"Dmitry-"

"Yes, I'm going Olga," he ran his hand through Anya's hair one last time, giving her a sympathetic smile as he left the room, shutting the door quietly.

He was greeted by Alexei offering him a hug once he had walked down the stairs. He accepted without hesitation.

"She'll be fine, the other three have been through it, Olga twice, you don't need to worry.

"I've just never seen her in that much pain before."

\---

A few hours had passed and Anya was still regularly screaming in pain.

Dmitry had begun pacing around the entrance, not being able to sit still, waiting for one of her sisters to tell him of the news.

He couldn't help but wonder how long they'd be, and worry, he was worrying so much, more often than usual, which wasn't like him.

There was a brief silence that overtook the palace. At first, his thoughts turned to darkness, but then he had to assume this was good, maybe she had had their child.

His latter instinct was correct as he looked up the grand staircase to see Maria standing their, smile on her face.

"Alyosha," Dmitry yelled, full of excitement as he ran up the stairs, he went to open the door but Anya began to cry in pain again.

He heard her crying his name and he attempted to open the door but Tatiana came outside.

"You're just going to have to bear with us a second-" and with that, she went straight back into the room.

Fear and panic struck over Dmitry again, he could hear the cries of a small child, their child, but they were overtaken by Anya's cries, her screams, her calling of his name.

He looked to Alexei in fear who just bought him into a hug, reassuring him everything would be okay.

The screaming stopped again and Dmitry pulled away from his hug with Alexei, he walked over to the door and turned the handle slowly, Maria opened the door from the other side rather quickly which made him jump.

He ran over to Anya who was lying in pain on the bed, tears in her eyes.

"Hey, you did good," he whispered quietly.

"I wanted you-" she managed to say through her breathlessness.

"I know," he planted a kiss on her lips, "I'm here now though."

"Ready to meet them Dmitry?" Olga's voice spoke.

"Sorry, did-did you just say them?" He looked down to Anya who now had a wide grin on her face.

Twins.

It was too much for him, he got up and walked out of the room.

The memories all came flooding back and the tears fell from his eyes. He heard Anya call his name and he could hear the tears in her voice, but he just needed a minute.

It was Maria who had actually followed him downstairs and see him punch the wall.

"You could at least to pretend to be happy-"

"No, it's-it's not that." He turned to face her and he saw the anger in her face drop as soon as she saw the redness in his eyes, the tears falling down his face.

"Mitya, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Maybe it'll help?"

"Maria, Anya doesn't even know, so-"

"Sit down and tell me Dmitry."

They walked over to the parlour and sat down.

"My-my mother died after she gave birth to Ivan and Iliar, I wasn't allowed to see her before and then," he took a breath, "after they were born, I never saw them again."

"I'm sorry, who?"

"My twin brothers."

"Well, that explains why she had twins, they don't run through our family."

"Our father was working in the factory at the time, but, some guards took him, left me with my brothers in Petersburg, he wrote us letters so I knew he was in the palace, then the letters stopped, someone told us he had been taken to a camp, we lost our home and being seven I couldn't look after two three-year-olds, they both died and it was all my fault," he continued to let out tears.

Maria placed her arm on his back, never realising his past was like this.

"Just hearing she had twins, it-I remembered it all, I got overwhelmed, I should go back to her, she probably thinks I'm going to leave her." He stood up and Maria grabbed his hand.

"You need to tell her Mitya, you can't keep that from her," she took a pause, "I'm sorry for what our father did. A lot more makes sense now," he gave her a quick nod before he ran up the stairs.

Tatiana, Alexei and Olga were all outside the room.

"She kicked us out as soon as you ran off, you better-"

"He has a valid enough excuse Olga-" Maria interrupted, he turned and gave her a smile.

"Would be much politer if you waited maybe in the parlour, instead of directly outside of our room," he spoke, with a small sense of anger in his voice.

He opened the door and walked into the room, Anya was now sat up, and their two children were lying on the bed.

"I thought you left," she didn't look at him when she spoke, but you could hear the coldness in her voice, you could hear she had been crying, you could hear the hurt in her voice.

He approached her slowly, feeling guilty for his actions, "I know. I thought you would've, I'm sorry Anya."

"Why?"

"Why am I sorry or why did I walk out?"

"Why did you walk out Dima? I thought you wanted this?" She looked at him this time, there were tears still falling down her face.

He sat on the bed next to her, carefully, watching the two small children who were asleep on the bed. He didn't even know if they were boys or girls yet. He pulled her onto his lap which made her wince in pain but she didn't fight him off or move off of him, instead, she rested her head on his shoulder, leaning into his neck.

"It bought up something from my past, something I wanted to forget, had suppressed away, and it was just a bit much."

"What?"

"It was the anniversary of my mother's death when you found me that day, five years she'd been gone, it was also my brothers' birthdays that day."

"Brothers?"

He nodded, "I had two, my mother died almost instantly after having them-"

"They were," he nodded, "and that's why-" he nodded again. "How come you never spoke about them?"

"They died when I was seven, they were three, I couldn't look after them."

"Your father-"

"Was working in the palace, until he was taken to a labour camp," she let out a small gasp.

"My father- he, he tore your family apart. Dima, I'm so sorry," they were both crying quietly. 

"It's okay, I forgave him."

"When?"

"When he told me he knew I loved you. I didn't realise it was him who had taken my father at first, I learnt when I was fifteen, hated him for it. He made up for it every day though, treated me as if I was his own. Then when he made me realise I loved you," he took a deep breath, "he took one family away from me, but he gave me a second one, one I am so grateful for," he kissed her forehead.

"Why did you never tell me?"

"It's hard to talk about," he gave a little shrug and then looked at the two small children on the bed. "They have your nose," she giggled slightly, "and I bet they have your beautiful blue eyes as well."

"We never thought of names Dima," another small giggle.

"Well maybe if the little ones had come on time-" she hit him playfully.

"I like Olivia," she whispered.

"Ahh, so they're girls then," he thought for a second "that's an English name isn't it?" 

She nodded, "It was in one of the books I used to read as a child."

"I don't know many English names but I like Chloe."

"That's a French name but it's still nice," she looked over to the small children, "Oliva and Chloe it is then," she looked back to him and gave him a kiss. "Oh, I have to wait six weeks, before, you know." He nodded, fully understanding what she had meant.

"Whenever you're ready."

\---

The next few weeks consisted of sleepless nights for both of them. Dmitry would insist Anya take naps throughout the day knowing full well the twins would wake up in the middle of the night wanting to be fed.

He was just placing Olivia into her cot when he felt her wrap her arms around his stomach. 

"She looks more like you than Chloe," she murmured, not wanting to wake the twins. "She has your brown eyes."

He turned around and wrapped his arms around her small frame, placing a kiss on her forehead, "and Chloe has your beautiful blue eyes."

He kissed her lips and she moved her arms up so they were around his neck.

"Oh," she pulled away as she remembered something, "Nana said that she'll have the twins whenever. She said we need a break and she is happy to look after them."

"How quickly can she get here?" He said before he placed her lips on hers. He pulled away and smiled at her. "Maybe we should go to our room," he winked at her before she took his hand and led him to their room.

\---

"Is Mama okay?" Olivia spoke, her language was everywhere with her parents speaking Russian, French and English. It was the same with Chloe, they would always mix the three languages in together through one sentence. It made them laugh.

"Mama is going to be okay, you'll be able to see her soon, I promise."

"Is she having another one of us?" He looked over to Chloe who was sat playing with her dollhouse.

"We don't know, it could be a boy or a girl."

"I want a girl!" Olivia screamed and he rolled his eyes.

"Three-year-olds are handfuls, we forgot to tell you that," Maria laughed at the side of the door.

He stood up very quickly "Has she-"

"No, but she is refusing to say yes to anything, she wants you there."

"I'm not supposed to though."

"You know how stubborn she can be, go to her Mitya, I'll watch the girls."

He nodded as he ran up the stairs two at a time, running to their room. He didn't knock on the door when he entered.

"Young man I'm going to have to-"

"No-" Anya yelled at the midwife, he felt bad for both of them in the situation, "He is staying and he isn't leaving."

"But your-"

"I don't care. He is stay-" she screamed in pain before she could finish her sentence making Dmitry run over to comfort her.

"Hey, I'm here, I'm not leaving," he took her hand which was inevitably squeezed by Anya, he wanted to wince in pain with how tight she was squeezing but knew it was nothing compared to the pain she was in. 

Once she stopped screaming, for the time being, he placed a kiss on her sweaty forehead and pushed her hair back slightly, even in this state she still looked perfect to him. 

"I don't remember the girls hurting this much," she let out with a little laugh before she went back to crying in pain.

"Anastasia you're going to need to-"

"Yes I know," he laughed very quietly about how aggravating she was being. "Dima if you want you can-"

"Do you want me here?" She nodded through the evident pain she was in, "then I'll stay," she began to cry in pain again, squeezing onto Dmitry's hand, he found this all very weird.

Soon enough her cries of pain were taken over by the sounds of a small infant.

She let out a sigh of relief and Dmitry kissed her as the small child was placed on her chest.

"A boy," he whispered, seeming very proud.

"Are we sticking with the English and French theme or are we going Russian this time?"

"George is a nice name," she turned and smiled at him.

"George Suyadev it is then, he's going to look as handsome as his Papa one day."

"Do you want me to get the girls now or do you want a rest?"

"I'd do anything for a little nap right now."

"Okay, I'll put him in his cot then," he took the small infant from her and walked her over to his cot on the other side of the room. 

He noticed that Olga and Tatiana had left the room and so had the midwife so he went back over to their bed where Anya had adjusted herself.

"I'm so proud of you," he placed a small kiss on her forehead.

"Well, I'm not doing that ever again."

"I am sure you said that last time," he gave her a wink before he walked out the room, shutting the door quietly.

He walked down to the parlour where he was greeted by two very excited three-year-olds.

"Papa! is Mama okay?" Olivia ran over to him, jumping over him so he picked her up, pulling her into a hug.

"Mama is okay, she's just having a little sleep, she's very tired."

"Can we go see her?"

"Not yet, when shes's woken up okay?" She gave a small nod.

"Do we have a sister or a brother Papa?" He looked to see Chloe pulling on his trouser leg.

He walked over to one of the sofas in the parlous, where the three sisters were with Alexei. He sat down and pulled Chloe onto his other lap.

"Mama had a little boy."

"We have a brother!" He laughed at the excitement in Chloe's voice. "Please, can we go and meet him, Papa!"

"Not yet, soon though, I promise, go play with your dolls for a bit."

The two girls jumped off of his lap and ran over to their dollhouse and he watched as they begun to play, he couldn't help but smile. Chloe resembled her mother in every way, same colour hair, same colour eyes, freckles sprinkling her face in the same places as on Anya's face. Olivia had his eyes and his hair though, other than that she also was the spitting image of Anya. They were both so perfect.

He heard the cries of the small infant and the two girls turned to him eagerly.

"You can come up but if Mama is awake I will have to ask her if you can come in, okay?" They nodded, smiles wide on their face.

He walked into his bedroom where Anya was sat up on the bed, she had got up and taken George with her and was feeding him.

"You have some visitors waiting outside."

"Let me just finish and then they can come in." He had shut the door behind him and had walked over to the bed. He sat directly next to her and she leaned against him.

"Girls, you can come in," she called softly as she pulled her t-shirt up.

The door opened and the two excited children ran over and jumped onto the bed.

"Careful," Dmitry scolded the two slightly which made them instantly apologise.

"Can we hold him, Mama?" Chloe spoke.

She nodded, "You have to sit together though, and be very careful, and hold his head okay?" She handed George over very carefully, making sure the two girls were sitting close enough together that they wouldn't let him fall.

"Thank you," Dmitry whispered into her ear.

"What for?"

"For being my wife, for giving me three perfect children," she giggled and he could see her blushing. "I love you, Anya."

"I love you too Dima."

He placed a kiss onto her lips, only a small peck and then looked to the small children in front of him.

He was so thankful for the family he had.

He was so thankful for Anya taking him in that day, he could never thank her enough for it.


End file.
